SEX  WORSHIP. 


SEX  WORSHIP 

AN  EXPOSITION  OF  THE  PHALLIC 
ORIGIN  OF  RELIGION 


BY 

CLIFFORD    HOWARD 


SECOND    EDITION 


WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 

PUBLISHED  BY  THE  AUTHOR 

1898 


COPYRIGHT 

BY   CLIFFORD    HOWARD 
1898. 


PRESS  OF  COXTINENTAL  PCBLISHINQ  CO. 
25  PARK  PLACE,  NEW  YORK. 


PREFACE. 

THIS  work  has  for  its  object  a  general 
presentation  of  sex  worship,  or  phallicism 
(the  worship  of  the  generative  powers  of 
nature),  for  the  purpose  of  demonstrating 
that  the  various  religious  faiths  of  the 
world  have  had  a  common  origin,  and  are 
founded  upon  a  natural,  material  basis — 
the  adoration  of  life  in  its  phenomena  of 
creation  and  reproduction. 

A  thorough  and  exhaustive  treatment 
of  the  subject  is,  of  course,  beyond  the 
scope  of  the  present  work,  which  is  limited 
solely  to  an  exposition  of  the  principal  and 
more  salient  features  of  phallicism,  in  its 
direct  and  obvious  relation  to  theology  and 
to  the  religious  beliefs  and  symbols  of  the 
present  day.  No  attempt  has,  therefore, 
been  made  to  treat  any  of  the  particular 
or  more  complex  phases  of  the  subject, 

5 


0  PREFACE. 

nor  to  discuss  its  social  and  physiological 
aspects,  which,  although  of  great  value  and 
interest,  could  not  appropriately  be  treated 
within  the  limits  of  this  volume. 

The  work  here  presented  embodies  a 
large  amount  of  original  research,  as  well 
as  the  investigations  of  leading  authorities 
on  the  subject,  all  of  whose  works  have 
been  carefully  studied.  The  author  has 
avoided  making  any  foot-note  references 
to  these  authorities,  for  not  only  do  such 
notes  fail  to  serve  any  practical  purpose — 
except  to  satisfy  the  critical  reader  that 
the  writer  has  not  drawn  upon  his  own 
imagination, — but  in  the  present  instance 
the  data  at  the  command  of  the  author 
have  been  gathered  from  such  a  variety  of 
sources,  and  the  evidence  presented  by 
them  is  so  largely  cumulative,  while  at  the 
same  time  they  are  so  closely  interwoven 
with  the  facts  derived  from  the  author's 
individual  investigations  and  discoveries, 
that  it  would  be  a  difficult  matter  to  clas- 
sify his  statements  in  accordance  with 
their  primary  source. 


PREFACE.  7 

It  has,  therefore,  been  deemed  sufficient 
to  append  hereto  a  list  of  the  principal 
books  on  phallicism  consulted  by  the  au- 
thor in  the  preparation  of  this  work. 
While  this  list  does  not  pretend  to  be  a 
complete  bibliography,  it  probably  repre- 
sents the  most  important  English  works 
on  phallic  worship,  and  will,  it  is  hoped, 
be  of  service  to  such  students  as  may  de- 
sire to  investigate  the  subject  more  fully. 

All  of  these  books,  however,  are  exceed- 
ingly rare  and  difficult  to  obtain,  for  up 
to  this  time  the  study  of  sex  worship  has 
been  confined  to  a  small  class  of  scholars 
and  investigators,  who  have  been  careful 
to  withhold  from  the  public  the  compara- 
tively few  works  on  the  subject ;  so  that 
the  general  student  has  had  little  or  no 
opportunity  for  acquainting  himself  with 
the  revelations  of  this  important  branch 
of  knowledge. 

It  is  hoped,  therefore,  that  the  present 
work  may  prove  of  interest  to  the  thought- 
ful and  intelligent  public,  for  whom  it  is 
designed,  and  that  it  will  be  received  and 


8  PREFACE. 

appreciated  in  the  spirit  that  its  impor- 
tance and  significance  deserve. 

THE  AUTHOR. 

Washington, 
1897. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAP.  PAGE. 

Introduction II 

I.  The  Basis  of  Religion 25 

II.  The  Creator 44 

III.  The  Phallus 63 

IV.  Phallic  Emblems 84 

V.  Sexual  Sacrifices 103 

VI.  The  Female  Principle 117 

VII.  Feminine  Emblems 130 

VIII.  The  Serpent  and  the  Cross 154 

IX.  The  Divine  Act 172 

X.  Regeneration 189 

Appendix,     list  of  Works  on  Phallicism. .  213 


INTRODUCTION. 

No  subject  is  of  greater  importance  and 
significance  in  the  evolution  of  the  human 
race  than  that  of  sex  worship — the  adora- 
tion of  the  generative  organs  as  symbols 
of  the  creative  powers  of  nature.  It  is 
indelibly  impressed  upon  our  beliefs,  our 
language  and  our  institutions.  It  consti- 
tutes the  basis  of  theology,  and  underlies 
the  mythologies  of  all  nations.  It  is  the 
source  of  our  present  religious  symbols 
and  church  architecture,  and  is  the  origin 
of  many  of  our  most  familiar  and  sacred 
celebrations.  In  a  word,  it  is  the  founda- 
tion of  religious  faith  and  worship. 

Sex  worship,  or  phallicism,  was  not  con- 
fined to  any  one  race  nor  to  any  particular 
age  in  the  history  of  the  world.  It  was 
the  form  of  worship  common  to  all  the 
early  nations  of  the  globe  ;  a  worship  uni- 

ii 


12  INTRODUCTION. 

versally  inspired  by  the  manifestations  of 
nature  in  her  great  mystery  of  life  and 
procreation. 

While  the  highest  development  of  phalli- 
cism  was  reached  by  the  ancient  Egyp- 
tians, Assyrians,  Hindoos,  Greeks,  and 
Romans,  proof  of  the  existence  of  this 
form  of  religion  is  to  be  found  in  every 
part  of  the  earth  inhabited  by  man.  Per- 
sia, India,  Ceylon,  China,  Japan,  Burmah, 
Java,  Arabia,  Syria,  Asia  Minor,  Egypt, 
Ethiopia,  Europe  and  the  British  Isles, 
together  with  Mexico,  Central  America, 
Peru  and  various  other  portions  of  the 
western  hemisphere — all  yield  abundant 
evidence  in  support  of  the  universality  of 
phallic  worship  as  a  primitive  form  of  re- 
ligion, and  of  the  common  origin  of  theo- 
logical creeds. 

It  must  not,  however,  be  supposed  that 
sex  worship  was  peculiar  alone  to  the  past 
ages.  It  is  common  among  primitive 
peoples  in  all  parts  of  the  world  to-day  ; 
and  in  India,  where  this  form  of  religion 
has  existed  uninterruptedly  for  thousands 


INTRODUCTION.  13 

of  years,  there  are  at  the  present  time  up- 
wards of  one  hundred  million  true  phallic- 
worshipers.  Among  the  Zufii  and  other 
North  American  tribes  phallicism  enters 
largely  into  their  religious  ceremonies, 
while  the  natives  of  many  of  the  Pacific 
islands  and  various  parts  of  Africa  are 
most  ardent  devotees  in  the  worship  of 
the  procreative  functions,  and  practise 
their  religion  in  the  realistic  and  unequiv- 
ocal manner  of  primeval  naturalness. 

While  there  are  doubtless  many  who 
may  be  inclined  to  question  the  relation- 
ship between  the  religious  rites  and  sym- 
bols of  the  present  day,  and  those  em- 
ployed in  the  past  ages  of  phallic  worship, 
the  fact  nevertheless  remains — and  is  ap- 
preciated by  all  students  of  ethnology, — 
that  religious  institutions  as  they  exist  to- 
day are  but  the  outgrowth  or  modification 
of  others  that  preceded  them,  or  are  simply 
a  continuation  of  ancient  forms  adapted 
to  new  meanings  or  purposes.  This  is 
true  of  all  features  of  sociological  life,  and 
is  a  necessary  incident  of  the  progress  of 


14  INTRODUCTION. 

society  and  of  the  evolution  of  the  human 
mind. 

In  the  study  of  language,  for  example, 
we  find  innumerable  instances  in  which 
the  primary  meaning  of  a  word  or  a  name 
has  been  completely  altered.  In  the 
course  of  time  the  original  significance 
has  lost  its  force,  and  the  word  has  be- 
come adapted  to  a  new  meaning,  having 
no  resemblance  whatsoever  to  that  which 
it  had  at  first ;  as  in  the  case  of  our  word 
idiot  (to  cite  one  example  out  of  a  thou- 
sand), which,  in  the  original  Greek,  was  a 
term  used  to  distinguish  a  private  citizen 
from  one  who  held  office,  and  had  no  ref- 
erence to  his  mental  qualities. 

In  the  same  manner  many  of  our  social 
customs  have  come  down  to  us  through 
the  centuries,  and  are  retained  either  as  a 
matter  of  habit,  or  because  they  fit  some 
present  condition,  though  their  original 
purpose  has  long  been  forgotten  or  has 
become  obsolete.  This  is  illustrated  in 
our  custom  of  shaking  hands  as  a  mode  of 
greeting ;  a  practice  that  had  its  beginning 


INTRODUCTION.  15 

in  the  days  when  every  man  stood  ready 
to  slay  his  fellow-creatures,  and  when 
good  will  and  friendship  could  best  be 
shown  by  a  man's  giving  to  another  his 
right  hand,  thereby  indicating  his  peace- 
able intentions  through  his  inability  to 
draw  his  sword  ;  and  to  this  day  we  con- 
tinue to  give  the  right  hand,  to  the  exclu- 
sion of  the  left,  although  the  sense  and 
reason  for  it  no  longer  exist. 

So,  also,  do  our  present  marriage  cus- 
toms afford  a  striking  example  of  the  re- 
lationship existing  between  primitive  and 
modern  institutions,  and  of  the  influence 
and  persistence  of  the  primary  features  of 
the  social  organism  through  all  the  ages 
of  its  growth  and  development.  Probably 
there  are  few  who  stop  to  seek  the  pri- 
mary reason  for  many  of  our  marriage 
customs — why  it  is  that  the  woman  re- 
ceives presents  prior  to  the  wedding  ;  why 
the  man  invariably  goes  to  the  house  of 
the  bride,  and  the  bride  never  to  the  house 
of  the  groom,  to  be  married  ;  why  the 
bridegroom  is  attended  by  a  "  best  man," 


10  INTRODUCTION. 

why  he  has  a  ring  placed  upon  the  finger  of 
the  bride,  and  why  he  hurries  away  with  her 
on  a  wedding  journey. 

These  and  many  other  incidents  of 
marriage  are  so  familiar  to  us,  and  have 
become  so  much  a  matter  of  course,  that 
we  do  not  realize  that  in  these  customs 
we  are  but  repeating  in  conventional 
form  the  acts  of  our  primitive  and  sav- 
age forefathers,  in  those  early  days  of 
human  society  when  a  man  was  obliged 
either  to  capture  his  wife  and  run  away 
with  her  (an  undertaking  ofttimes  requir- 
ing the  assistance  of  a  trusted  friend),  or 
to  purchase  her  with  gifts  contributed  by 
himself  and  his  family  ;  for  a  wife  was  a 
mere  chattel,  to  be  fought  for  or  pur- 
chased ;  and,  when  finally  possessed,  the 
token  of  her  subjugation  was  a  ring  (the 
badge  of  servitude),  which  was  placed 
upon  one  of  her  fingers. 

To  those  who  have  given  any  attention 
to  the  growth  and  derivation  of  human 
institutions  these  illustrative  facts  will  at 
once  be  appreciated,  and  their  citation 


INTRODUCTION.  I? 

may,  perhaps,  be  considered  an  unneces- 
sary digression.  Yet  they  will  undoubt- 
edly tend  to  more  readily  convince  the 
general  reader  that  many  features  peculiar 
to  human  society  may  very  easily  have  a 
past  significance  entirely  at  variance  with 
that  which  they  have  to-day ;  so  that  it 
should  not  prove  surprising  to  find  that 
what  is  true  of  our  language  and  our 
social  customs,  is  equally  true  of  our  the- 
ology and  church  symbolism  ;  that  many 
of  our  religious  customs  and  emblems 
have  come  down  to  us  from  a  remote  past, 
and  have  simply  been  adapted  to  mean- 
ings and  purposes  in  accordance  with  our 
present  ideas  and  social  conditions. 

In  viewing  the  forms  and  ceremonials 
connected  with  the  nature  worship  of 
early  civilization  it  should  be  constantly 
borne  in  mind  that,  however  extravagant 
or  absurd  they  may  appear  to  us,  they 
served  in  their  time  a  definite  and  reason- 
able purpose — that  nothing  comes  into 
existence  except  as  the  result  of  an  effi- 
cient cause.  It  must  be  remembered  that 

2 


1 8  INTRODUCTION. 

among  the  early  races  of  mankind  lan- 
guage was  largely  symbolical  ;  that  primi- 
tive man  was  obliged  to  resort  to  suggest- 
ive natural  objects — and  their  more  or  less 
conventional  symbolization — for  the  con- 
veyance of  his  ideas  ;  and  hence  the  sun, 
the  moon,  the  stars,  the  day  and  the  night, 
the  trees,  the  flowers,  the  animals — in 
short,  all  phenomena  and  forms  of  life 
were  called  into  requisition  to  supply  his 
need  for  some  means  of  expressing  his 
thoughts  and  emotions.  Consequently, 
many  objects  and  functions  were  given 
meanings  which  we  to-day  fail  to  appre- 
ciate, because  of  our  dependence  upon  a 
fixed  and  formal  language,  and  our  con- 
sequent failure  to  see  in  these  objects  and 
functions  anything  beyond  their  direct 
and  intrinsic  significance. 

Nor  must  we  fall  into  the  error  of  re- 
garding the  rites  and  symbols  of  phalli- 
cism  in  the  light  of  modern  prejudice. 
While  on  their  surface  they  may  appear 
incompatible  with  our  present  ideas  of 
propriety,  it  should  not  be  forgotten  that 


INTRODUCTION.  19 

morality  and  religion  are  purely  relative 
terms,  and  that  what  is  highly  improper 
at  one  time  may  be  both  proper  and  re- 
ligious at  another.  It  is  scarcely  neces- 

o  » 

sary  to  remind  any  one,  however  superfi- 
cial may  be  his  knowledge  of  history,  that 
man's  conceptions  of  right  and  wrong 
have  been  constantly  changing ;  that  the 
standard  of  morality  and  religion  has  been 
different  in  each  age  ;  that  the  virtue  of 
yesterday  is  the  sin  of  to-day,  and  that 
what  one  race  has  regarded  with  rever- 
ence another  has  spurned  with  con- 
demnation. 

Each  age,  and  each  nation  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  world  has  had  its  individual 
ideals  of  morality  ;  and  each  race  and  each 
community  to-day  has  its  independent 
conceptions  of  virtue  and  goodness  ;  and 
while  each  set  of  people  is  convinced  of 
the  correctness  of  its  own  standard  of 
ethics,  no  two  of  these  standards  agree  in 
all  particulars.  On  the  contrary,  many  of 
them  are  in  direct  opposition  to  one  an- 
other. 


20  INTRODUCTION. 

It  is  only  proper,  therefore,  in  studying 
the  customs  and  beliefs  of  any  particular 
age  or  of  a  particular  race,  that  we 
should  acquaint  ourselves  with  the  sur- 
rounding and  influencing  conditions  ; 
with  the  social  and  mental  status  of  the 
race  or  community,  and  view  its  people 
from  the  standpoint  of  their  own  time 
and  their  own  life  conditions  and  environ- 
ment, without  any  reference  to  what  may 
be  the  prevailing  notions  or  beliefs  as  the 
result  of  entirely  different  conditions. 

In  a  primitive  state  of  society  man  ex- 
presses himself  with  equal  freedom  and 
unreserve  on  all  natural  and  physiological 
phenomena  within  his  observation.  Ex- 
perience has  not  yet  suggested  to  him 
any  necessity  for  concealing  certain  bodily 
functions,  or  for  regarding  certain  of  his 
appetites  as  essentially  different  from  any 
of  his  other  natural  desires. 

This  is  a  matter  of  common  knowledge 
and  observation,  and  is  abundantly  attest- 
ed by  the  records  and  the  history  of  man- 
kind ;  the  evidence  contained  in  the  Old 


INTRODUCTION.  21 

Testament  being  alone  sufficient  to  con- 
vince any  one  of  this  feature  of  primordial 
social  conditions.  Not  only  do  we  find 
the  writers  of  sacred  history  freely  and 
unaffectedly  referring  to  many  things  that 
in  this  day  are  considered  indecent  and 
unholy,  or  at  least  unfit  for  general  dis- 
cussion, but  the  Lord  himself  is  recorded 
as  speaking  on  these  topics  with  a  fre- 
quency and  in  a  manner  to  leave  no  doubt 
that  nothing  in  their  nature  or  suggestive- 
ness  rendered  them  in  those  early  days 
unworthy  of  even  divine  mention. 

This  characteristic  of  the  Scriptural 
writings  is  familiar  to  all  readers  of  the 
Bible,  and  would  prove  of  even  greater 
significance  and  force  were  it  not  for  the 
fact  that  many  Hebrew  words  and  expres- 
sions have  been  altered  in  their  translation 
from  the  original,  where  they  appear  in  a 
boldness  and  directness  of  meaning  quite 
incompatible  with  latter-day  notions  of  re- 
finement, and  which  cannot  fail  to  satisfy 
the  most  skeptical,  that  matters  pertain- 
ing to  the  generative  functions  and  to  the 


22  INTRODUCTION. 

sexes  were  formerly  discussed  with  per- 
fect familiarity  and  plainness,  with  no 
thought  of  impropriety  or  immodesty. 

But  aside  from  all  ethical  considerations, 
it  is  only  necessary  to  remember  that  re- 
ligion, in  whatever  form  it  may  be  mani- 
fested, always  represents  man's  highest 
and  purest  thought,  and  that  no  one  would 
deliberately  introduce  into  his  religious 
worship  anything  that  to  his  mind  was 
impure  or  unholy.  If  phallic  worship 
sometimes  degenerated  into  licentiousness 
and  other  inconsistent  practices,  it  is  no 
more  reasonable  on  this  account  to  ques- 
tion its  inherent  righteousness  and  purity, 
than  to  deride  Christianity  because  of  the 
many  sins  that  have  been  committed  in 
its  name  by  those  who  have  prostituted 
religion  to  selfish  and  unholy  purposes. 

Therefore,  however  absurd  or  unreason- 
able sex  worship  may  appear  to  us  at  this 
day,  let  us  not  forget  that  it  was  man's 
religion  at  the  dawn  of  civilization  ;  that 
it  represents  a  stage  in  the  development 
of  the  human  mind,  and  that  the  grandest 


INTRODUCTION.  23 

theologies  of  to-day  are  the  outcome  of 
this  primitive  mode  of  worship  ;  that  it 
constitutes  the  basis  of  all  that  is  sacred, 
holy  and  beautiful. 


SEX    WORSHIP. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  BASIS  OF   RELIGION. 

THE  animating  impulse  of  all  organic 
life  is  the  sexual  instinct.  It  is  that  which 
underlies  the  struggle  for  existence  in  the 
animal  world,  and  is  the  source  of  all  hu- 
man endeavor  and  emotion. 

That  affinity  which  draws  the  two  sexes 
together  for  the  purpose  of  uniting  in  the 
production  of  a  new  being — that  over- 
mastering, universal  impulse — is  the  most 
powerful  factor  in  all  that  pertains  to  the 
human  race,  and  has  ever  been  the  cause 
and  the  subject  of  man's  most  exalted 
thought. 

25 


26  SEX  WORSHIP. 

In  this  day  and  age,  when  matters  per- 
taining to  the  sexes  are  generally  avoided, 
and  we  are  taught  that  the  sexual  appetite 
is  an  animal  craving,  that  should  be  sub- 
dued and  concealed  as  unworthy  of  man's 
superior  nature,  it  is  not  surprising  that 
the  great  majority  of  persons  are  blind  to 
the  vast  importance  and  significance  of  the 
sexual  nature  in  its  relation  to  the  affairs 
of  the  world,  and  that  they  fail  to  realize 
that  not  only  is  it  the  cause  of  our  indi- 
vidual existence,  but  that  it  is  the  founda- 
tion of  society  and  the  well-spring  of 
human  life  and  happiness. 

It  is  not  our  purpose  here  to  enter  up- 
on a  discussion  of  the  physiological  fea- 
tures of  the  subject,  showing  the  intimate 
and  unavoidable  relationship  existing  be- 
tween the  mind  and  the  sexual  instinct  ; 
but  suffice  it  to  say,  that  were  man  de- 
prived of  this  instinct  it  would  not  only 
result  in  the  extermination  of  the  race 
(for  procreation  would  be  impossible  in 
the  absence  of  this  animating  desire),  but 
all  ambition,  endeavor  and  affection,  all 


THE  BASIS   OF   RELIGION.  2/ 

poetry,  art  and  religion — in  short,  all  the 
emotions  and  achievements  inspired  by 
what  we  term  love  would  cease,  and  the 
world  would  become  cold  and  passionless  ; 
destitute  of  sentiment  or  aspiration,  devoid 
of  any  incentive  to  progress  or  energy ; 
while  the  intricate  and  reciprocal  machin- 
ery of  human  society,  robbed  of  its  mo- 
tive force,  would  come  to  a  stop  and 
crumble  away  in  hopeless  disorganiza- 
tion. 

It  is  universally  admitted  that  love  is 
the  animating  spirit  of  the  world  ;  and 
what  is  love  but  a  manifestation  of  the 
sexual  instinct  ?  The  civilized  man,  who 
woos  the  object  of  his  affection  through 
the  medium  of  inspired  poetry  and  other 
sentimental  graces,  who  reveals  the  long- 
ings of  his  heart  in  language  and  conduct 
at  once  pure,  refined  and  tender,  and  who 
instinctively  shrinks  from  the  suggestion 
of  any  sensuality  in  his  feelings,  is  never- 
theless actuated  by  precisely  the  same 
motive  as  that  which  governs  the  savage 
in  his  brutal  and  uncouth  demonstration 


28  SEX   WORSHIP. 

of  desire  toward  one  of  the  opposite  sex. 
Each  is  but  giving  expression,  in  accord- 
ance with  his  individual  nature  and  social 
conditions,  to  the  same  feeling,  the  same 
impulse.  In  the  one  case  we  recognize  it 
as  love  ;  in  the  other,  as  sensuality  ;  yet 
both  spring  from  the  same  source  ;  both 
are  animated  by  the  same  instinct. 

Whatever  reluctance  there  may  be  in 
admitting  this  physical  truth,  is  due  to 
the  unfortunate  fact  that  we  have  been 
taught  to  regard  the  generative  nature  as 
confined  wholly  within  the  narrow  limits 
of  its  purely  sensual  manifestations,  as  ex- 
hibited in  lust  and  mere  animal  gratifica- 
tion ;  and,  consequently,  we  fail  to  recog- 
nize it  in  its  higher,  nobler  and  all-pervad- 
ing form  of  love.  But  viewing  it  in  its 
broad  and  true  aspect,  untrammeled  by 
arbitrary  definitions,  we  are  forced  to  ad- 
mit its  vital  importance  as  the  supreme 
factor  in  the  life  and  welfare  of  the  human 
race. 

Love,  as  an  abstract  power,  is  ever 
glorified  and  idealized,  because  we  see  in 


THE   BASIS   OF   RELIGION.  29 

it  the  source,  the  inspiration,  of  all  beauty, 
morality  and  sublimity  ;  the  incentive  to 
deeds  of  the  highest  and  noblest  charac- 
ter ;  the  elevating  and  controlling  spirit 
of  man's  life.  Every  poet,  every  artist, 
every  composer — all  who  are  gifted  with 
power  of  most  truly  expressing  the  lofti- 
est emotions  and  feelings  of  mankind 
have  found  their  inspiration  in  the  in- 
exhaustible theme  of  love  ;  and  no  lan- 
guage, no  expression,  has  ever  been  deem- 
ed too  exalted,  too  far-reaching,  for  the 
portrayal  of  this  universal  and  omnipotent 
passion. 

In  our  idealization  of  love  it  soars  be- 
yond the  bounds  of  earthly  limitations, 
and  we  hesitate  not  to  ascribe  to  it  a  di- 
vine character,  and  to  embrace  it  in  the 
highest  and  most  sacred  sphere  of  man's 
intellectual  domain — religion.  Nay,  do 
we  not  raise  it  to  the  loftiest  point  capable 
of  attainment  by  the  human  mind,  when 
we  reverently  exclaim,  "  God  is  love  !  " 
— when  we  bow  down  and  worship  it  as 
the  divine  essence,  the  supreme  power  ? 


30  SEX  WORSHIP. 

It  is  not 'within  the  province  of  this 
work  to  attempt  a  complete  analysis  of 
love,  or  sexuality,  in  its  complex  relation 
to  these  higher  and  more  subtle  phases 
of  human  thought  and  conduct  ;  but 
enough  has  been  said  to  indicate  that  the 
animating  spirit  of  the  human  mind — the 
underlying  principle  of  its  lofty  and  holy 
emotions, — is  the  spiritualizing  power  of 
the  sexual  instinct ;  that  this  impulse  lies 
at  the  foundation  of  all  thought  and  action, 
and  finds  its  grandest  and  most  exalted 
expression  in  religion. 

Love  is  both  the  foundation  and  the 
pinnacle  of  religion  ;  the  beginning  and 
the  end  of  human  thought  and  aspiration. 
Religious  emotion  springs  from  the  ani- 
mating power  of  the  sexual  nature,  and 
through  the  emotion  thus  aroused  we 
deify  and  worship  the  inspirational  source 
of  our  spiritual  longings.  In  every  sense, 
both  physical  and  spiritual,  both  material 
and  ideal,  love  is  the  animating,  creative 
force  of  the  world  ;  the  divine  immanence 
of  the  universe ;  the  actuating  source  of 


THE   BASIS   OF   RELIGION.  31 

life,  and  the  indwelling  spirit  of  the  soul ; 
the  beginning  and  end  of  all  that  is. 

It  is  not  intended,  however,  that  the 
proof  of  the  basis  of  religious  worship 
shall  alone  rest  upon  a  physiological  anal- 
ysis, however  complete  or  demonstrative, 
but  that  the  records  of  human  history 
shall  bear  witness  to  the  fact,  that  the- 
ology has  sprung  from  the  animating  im- 
pulse of  life,  and  that  it  has  for  its  primary 
and  universal  object  the  worship  of  its  in- 
spiring cause  ;  the  worship  of  the  mystery 
of  life,  of  creation  and  reproduction  ;  the 
worship  of  the  omnipotent  creative  power. 

Of  all  the  phenomena  of  nature  there  is 
none  that  has  always  so  strongly  excited 
the  wonder  and  reverence  of  mankind  as 
that  of  procreation — the  transmission  of 
life  from  one  generation  to  another.  At 
all  times  and  on  all  hands  we  behold 
nature  engaged  in  her  ceaseless  work  of 
reproduction ;  and  yet  the  mystery  of 
that  wondrous  creative  power,  which 
causes  the  plant  to  spring  from  the  tiny 
seed,  and  brings  the  child — a  new  being — 


32  SEX   WORSHIP. 

into  the  world,  is  to-day  as  deep  and  in- 
spiring as  it  was  to  the  mind  of  man  in 
the  early  dawn  of  the  world's  history. 

One  of  the  first  problems  of  human 
thought  is  that  regarding  creation. 
Where  do  we  come  from  ?  How  is  life 
produced?  Who  brings  the  new  beings 
into  the  world?  These  are  the  natural 
and  innocent  questions  that  perplex  the 
mind  of  every  child  ;  questions  that  from 
time  immemorial  have  been  asked  by 
mankind,  and  have  inspired  a  responsive 
belief  in  the  existence  of  an  eternal  and 
almighty  creative  power ;  a  belief  that  is 
common  to  all  people  of  the  world,  and 
which  constitutes  the  central  and  basic 
truth  of  all  religious  faiths. 

It  is  apparent  to  every  one  who  has  had 
an  opportunity  of  studying  the  subject, 
that  all  religions  have  had  a  common 
origin,  and  that  however  much  they  may 
differ  in  their  teachings  and  their  institu- 
tions, they  but  represent  different  methods 
of  worshiping  one  and  the  same  object. 
Brahma,  Jehovah,  God,  Allah  and  hun- 


THE   BASIS   OF   RELIGION.  33 

dreds  of  others,  are  simply  different 
names  for  the  same  deity,  as  viewed  from 
different  standpoints  ;  and  this  deity,  this 
universal  object  of  adoration,  is  the  su- 
preme creative  power. 

When  the  ambassador  from  the  French 
court  presented  to  the  Buddhist  king  of 
Siam  the  request  of  Louis  XIV  that  he 
would  embrace  Christianity,  he  replied  : 
"  It  is  strange  that  the  king  of  France 
should  interest  himself  so  much  in  a  mat- 
ter which  concerns  only  God,  whilst  He 
whom  it  does  concern  seems  to  have  left 
it  wholly  to  our  discretion.  Had  it  been 
agreeable  to  the  Creator  that  all  nations 
should  have  the  same  form  of  worship, 
would  it  not  have  been  as  easy  for  him  in 
his  omnipotence  to  have  created  all  men 
with  the  same  sentiments  and  dispositions, 
and  to  have  inspired  them  with  the  same 
notions  of  the  True  Religion,  as  to  en- 
dow them  with  such  different  tempers  and 
inclinations?  Ought  we  not  rather  to 
believe  that  the  true  God  has  as  much 
pleasure  in  being  honored  by  a  variety  of 
3 


34  SEX   WORSHIP. 

forms  and  ceremonies,  as  in  being  praised 
and  glorified  by  a  number  of  different 
creatures  ?  " 

"  Even  they  who  worship  other  gods," 
says  Krishna,  the  incarnate  deity,  in  an 
ancient  Hindu  poem,  "  worship  me  al- 
though they  know  it  not." 

These  expressions  embody  the  teach- 
ings of  the  higher  philosophy  of  the  Bud- 
dhist and  Hindu  religions,  which  recognize 
the  true  source  and  motive  of  all  religious 
faiths.  According  to  them  there  is  but  one 
religion  ;  one  supreme,  everlasting  truth  ; 
and  the  so-called  different  religions  of  the 
world  are  but  different  modes  of  mani- 
festing and  expressing  this  eternal  truth. 

No  two  individuals,  however  closely  re- 
lated by  birth  and  circumstances,  ever 
view  the  same  object  in  exactly  the  same 
light.  Much  less,  therefore,  can  we  ex- 
pect widely  separated  nations,  living 
under  entirely  different  conditions,  to  re- 
semble one  another  in  their  views  and  cus- 
toms and  to  construct  similar  systems  of 
morality  and  church  government.  Each 


THE   BASIS   OF   RELIGION.  35 

builds  its  social  and  theological  structure 
in  accordance  with  its  ideas  and  needs  ; 
each  constructs  a  form  of  religion  suitable 
to  its  conditions,  mental  and  physical. 
Every  being,  every  race,  every  age,  has  a 
form  of  religion  in  conformity  with  its  in- 
dividual status  and  necessities.  The  savage 
no  more  comprehends  our  abstract,  imper- 
sonal conception  of  the  Almighty,  than 
can  we  understand  his  reverence  for  a 
supreme  god  in  the  form  of  a  wooden 
idol ;  yet  both  the  savage  and  ourselves 
are  worshiping  identically  the  same  object, 
and  are  actuated  by  the  same  motive. 

These  facts  become  all  the  more  ap- 
parent when  we  note  how  great  is  the 
diversity  of  thought  and  conduct  among 
people  of  the  same  community  and  of  the 
same  religious  faith.  Do  we  not  see 
Christianity  broken  up  into  a  multitude  of 
sects  and  denominations,  each  observing 
the  same  religion  in  a  different  manner? 
And  do  we  not  realize  that  the  idea  of 
God  is  subject  to  a  multitude  of  interpre- 
tations? 


36  SEX  WORSHIP. 

Each  Christian,  while  conforming  to  the 
general  theological  opinion,  has  his  own 
individual  conception  of  the  Almighty  ; 
and  what  is  true  of  individuals  is  likewise 
true  of  denominations  and  of  different  gen- 
erations and  periods  in  the  history  of 
Christianity.  The  character  and  attri- 
butes ascribed  to  the  Deity  are  to-day, 
and  ever  have  been,  as  various  and  con- 
flicting as  are  the  opinions  and  feelings  of 
mankind.  Every  man's  idea  of  God  is 
dependent  upon  his  nature,  his  education 
and  his  social  condition.  As  the  intellect 
and  disposition  are  refined,  so  does  the 
conception  of  the  Supreme  Being  become 
more  exalted  and  more  spiritual,  while  to 
the  mind  of  lesser  development  the  Al- 
mighty appears  more  material,  more  per- 
sonal, more  closely  allied  with  man  him- 
self, until  we  reach  the  anthropomorphic 
conception,  in  which  God  is  regarded 
simply  as  an  exaggerated  human  being, 
endowed  with  the  same  feelings  and  emo- 
tions that  actuate  his  creatures,  and  gov- 
erned by  the  same  passions  and  impulses  ; 


THE  BASIS  OF   RELIGION.  37 

as  we  find  illustrated  in  the  Old-Testament 
descriptions  of  Jehovah. 

While  Jehovah  and  the  God  of  Chris- 
tianity are  one  and  the  same  Being,  there 
are  probably  few  Christians  to-day  whose 
conception  of  the  Creator  accords  with 
that  entertained  by  the  Israelites  ;  for,  in 
truth,  it  is  not  such  as  is  in  harmony  with 
the  present  religion  of  love  and  peace,  but, 
on  the  contrary,  is  that  of  a  vengeful, 
sanguinary  deity ;  one  who  was  easily 
aroused  to  anger,  and  did  not  hesitate  to 
scourge  and  to  slay  those  who  opposed 
him ;  destroying  at  one  time  as  many  as 
fifty  thousand,  in  a  sudden  fit  of  indigna- 
tion, and  constantly  commanding  the  Is- 
raelites to  wage  war  against  and  to  lay 
waste  the  landsand  cities  of  their  enemies  ; 
afflicting  with  plagues,  pestilence  and 
famine  those  who  displeased  him,  and 
threatening  his  chosen  people  with  dread- 
ful curses  and  cruel  punishments  should 
they  fail  to  obey  him  :  "  Cursed  shalt  thou 
be  in  the  city,  and  cursed  shalt  thou  be  in 
the  field.  Cursed  shalt  thou  be  when 


38  SEX   WORSHIP. 

thou  comest  in,  and  cursed  shalt  thou  be 
when  thou  goest  out.  The  Lord  shall 
smite  thee  with  a  consumption,  and  with 
a  fever,  and  with  an  inflammation,  and  with 
an  extreme  burning,  and  with  the  sword, 
and  with  blasting,  and  with  mildew.  And 
the  Lord  will  smite  thee  with  the  botch 
of  Egypt,  and  with  the  emerods,  and  with 
the  scab,  and  with  the  itch,  whereof  thou 
canst  not  be  healed.  Moreover  he  will 
bring  upon  thee  all  the  diseases  of  Egypt, 
which  thou  wast  afraid  of,  and  they  shall 
cleave  unto  thee.  Also  every  sickness 
and  every  plague,  which  is  not  written  in 
the  book  of  this  law,  them  will  the  Lord 
bring  upon  thee,  until  thou  be  destroyed." 
These  and  many  more  are  the  curses 
enumerated  in  the  Lord's  malediction 
against  the  Israelites,  as  found  in  the 
twenty-eighth  chapter  of  Deuteronomy. 

We  have  here,  therefore,  in  our  own 
theological  history,  a  striking  example  of 
what  has  just  been  said  regarding  the  dis- 
similar ideas  and  representations  of  one 
and  the  same  deity, — each  age,  each  race, 


THE  BASIS  OF   RELIGION.  39 

each  denomination  having  its  individual 
conception  of  God,  in  accordance  with  the 
social  and  intellectual  status  of  its  people. 

When  we  trace  the  development  and 
growth  of  Christian  civilization  through 
the  past  centuries,  we  find  that  religious 
notions  and  customs,  in  common  with 
the  idea  of  God,  have  been  constantly 
changing,  and  that  what  we  call  Christian- 
ity has  embraced  every  conceivable  vari- 
ety of  thought  and  conduct ;  that  it  has 
served  as  the  authority  for  practices  and 
institutions  that  at  another  time  have 
been  condemned  by  the  same  authority. 
The  Inquisition  flourished  in  its  name  ; 
the  valiant  Crusades  were  carried  on  under 
its  banners  ;  it  has  filled  the  world  with 
darkness  and  with  misery,  and  it  has  been 
the  beacon  light  of  hope  and  salvation 
— the  glorious  annunciation  of  joy  and 
liberty. 

But,  despite  these  marvelous  changes 
and  contradictions,  who  will  say  that 
Christianity  itself  has  changed  ;  that  the 
foundation  on  which  it  rests  has  been 


4O  SEX   WORSHIP. 

shaken  ?  The  fundamental  doctrines  and 
truths  have  remained  unaltered ;  they 
have  simply  been  modified  and  adapted 
to  the  various  stages  in  the  evolution  of 
human  society,  now  appearing  in  one 
form,  and  now  in  another,  concordantly 
with  the  social  and  mental  development 
of  the  race. 

So,  also,  do  we  find  that  many  of  the 
main  features  of  Christianity  are  simply 
modifications  or  adaptations  of  those  exist- 
ing in  older  forms  of  religion.  We  know 
that  long  prior  to  the  time  of  Christ,  man- 
kind worshiped  the  Almighty  in  the  form 
of  a  triune  god.  The  Hindoos  had  their 
Brahma,  Vishnu  and  Siva — Creator,  Pre- 
server and  Reproducer,  or  Holy  Spirit, 
whose  emblem  was  a  dove.  The  Assyr- 
ians, too,  worshiped  a  Trinity,  as  did  also 
the  ancient  Persians,  Egyptians,  Pheni- 
cians,  Scandinavians,  Chaldeans  and 
Romans.  In  fact,  the  Supreme  Being 
was  worshiped  by  nearly  all  the  early 
nations  as  a  triple  deity — three  in  one. 

The  legend  of  the  creation  and  fall  of 


THE   BASIS   OF   RELIGION.  41 

man  is  likewise  common  to  all  of  the  prin- 
cipal ancient  faiths.  In  some  of  the  rec- 
ords, as  the  Zend-Avesta  of  the  Persians, 
and  the  Vedas  of  the  Hindoos,  this  legend 
bears  a  remarkable  likeness  in  many  of  its 
details  to  that  contained  in  the  Bible. 
There  have  been  found  ancient  Assyrian 
cylinders,  pictorially  recording  the  temp- 
tation  and  fall  of  man,  and  in  the  British 
Museum  there  are  cuneiform  inscriptions 
showing  conclusively  that  the  Babylon- 
ians had  this  legend  fifteen  hundred  years 
or  more  before  the  book  of  Genesis  was 
written. 

The  belief  in  a  Savior,  a  Son  of  God, 
who  was  born  of  a  Virgin,  died  for  the 
salvation  of  men,  and  rose  again  after 
death,  dates  back  centuries  and  even  thou- 
sands of  years  before  the  Christian  era,  as 
we  see  in  the  religions  of  Egypt,  China, 
India,  Mexico  and  other  ancient  nations. 
For  a  thousand  years  before  the  birth  of 
Christ  the  Hindoos  worshiped  theirvirgin- 
born  Redeemer,  Krishna ;  relating  his 
wonderful  miracles,  following  his  righteous 


42  SEX   WORSHIP. 

teachings,  and  calling  him  the  Resurrec- 
tion and  the  Life,  the  Good  Shepherd,  and 
the  Light  of  the  World. 

Buddha,  the  Son  of  God,  born  of  the 
Virgin  Mary,  and  founder  of  the  faith  that 
to-day  numbers  more  adherents  than  that 
of  any  other  in  the  world,came  to  earth  and 
died  for  the  redemption  of  mankind  nearly 
five  hundred  years  before  the  time  of 
Christ  ;  while  Horus,  the  Egyptian  Sa- 
vior, according  to  tradition,  lived  about 
six  thousand  years  ago.  For  ages  before 
the  discovery  of  America  by  Columbus, 
the  Mexicans  worshiped  their  Redeemer, 
Quetzalcoatl,  who  was  born  of  Sochiquet- 
zal,  a  pure  virgin,  chosen  by  God  to  be 
the  mother  of  his  only  begotten  son. 

In  short,  we  find  that  the  fundamental 
religious  beliefs  of  the  world  have  re- 
mained unchanged  from  time  immemorial, 
however  diversified  and  contradictory 
have  been  their  superincumbent  theol- 
ogies, and  that  beneath  the  outward  and 
ceremonial  differences  of  the  various  faiths 
of  mankind,  throughout  all  the  world  and 


THE   BASIS  OF   RELIGION.  43 

throughout  all  the  ages  of  human  history, 
there  are  to  be  found  the  same  legends 
and  the  same  beliefs  ;  all  pointing  to  a 
common  origin,  to  a  universal  foundation 
— the  worship  of  nature  in  its  great  mys- 
tery of  life  ;  the  worship  of  the  supreme 
creative  power. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE   CREATOR. 

As  was  stated  in  the  preceding  chapter, 
the  phenomenon  of  procreation  has  ever 
been  a  source  of  deepest  interest,  curiosity 
and  reverence,  and  we  may  readily  im- 
agine how  directly  and  forcibly  it  must 
have  impressed  itself  upon  the  mind  of 
man  in  those  early  days  of  his  social  de- 
velopment, when  he  was  more  closely  de- 
pendent upon  nature  than  he  is  now,  and 
when  the  necessities  of  his  condition  ren- 
dered him  keenly  observant  of  all  phe- 
nomena. 

In  the  infancy  of  man's  mentality  the 
manifestations  of  nature  were  unintelligi- 
ble ;  but  with  that  instinct  which  is  still 
inherent  in  the  human  race,  he  struggled 
with  his  finite  mind  to  grasp  the  infinite, 
and  in  his  endeavor  to  comprehend  the 
44 


THE  CREATOR.  45 

forces  and  wonders  of  the  universe,  he 
clothed  them  with  the  imagery  of  his  un- 
tutored mind,  and  they  became  to  him 
living  entities  like  himself ;  the  personi- 
fications of  his  emotions  and  desires ;  the 
representations  of  superior  beings,  upon 
whom  he  was  dependent  for  his  existence 
and  happiness. 

Naturally,  he  learned  to  regard  most 
highly  that  which  not  only  afforded  him 
the  greatest  pleasure  and  the  greatest 
good,  but  which  appeared  to  him  as  the 
most  powerful  and  the  most  incompre- 
hensible, and  thus  it  was  that  he  came  to 
look  upon  the  generative  power  as  su- 
perior to  aught  else.  The  creative  act  was 
his  incomparably  greatest  pleasure,  and 
produced  the  most  wonderful  and  most- 
prized  result — a  new  being  like  himself. 
Surely,  within  the  range  of  his  observation 
and  experience  there  was  nothing  in  na- 
ture at  once  so  mysterious,  so  potent,  so 
awe-inspiring ;  so  overpowering  in  its 
manifestations,  so  inexplicably  marvelous 
in  its  results  ;  silent  and  invisible  in  its 


46  SEX   WORSHIP. 

operations;  omnipotent  and  supreme  in 
its  powers  and  capabilities. 

Man's  first  impulse  is  to  suppose  that 
the  immediately  preceding  act  is  the 
cause  of  the  immediately  succeeding  re- 
sult, and  it  was  therefore  only  natural  that 
at  first  man  should  have  regarded  his  virile 
member  as  the  direct  and  sole  cause  of 
both  his  pleasure  and  of  his  offspring ;  it 
was  through  it  that  the  greatest  of  all 
things  in  nature  was  accomplished, — a 
wonderful  and  potent  instrument,  en- 
dowed apparently  with  independent  life 
and  activity,  and  possessed  of  a  power 
transcending  all  others  in  greatness  and 
mystery. 

It  required  a  long  time  for  mankind  to 
reach  that  stage  in  which  the  mind  was 
capable  of  formulating  and  grasping 
abstract  notions  ;  of  disassociating  attri- 
butes and  qualities  from  the  objects  in 
which  they  are  manifested  ;  of  compre- 
hending a  power  or  an  emotion  without 
some  tangible,  suggestive  symbol ;  and 
so  it  was  that  the  male  organ  of  genera- 


THE  CREATOR.  47 

tion,  the  phallus,  was  regarded  as  the 
incarnate  source  of  being, — as  the  em- 
bodiment of  the  creative  power, — and 
came  to  be  looked  upon  and  adored  as 
the  Author  of  Life. 

In  accordance  with  the  instincts  of 
humanity,  this  supremely  marvelous  and 
potent  object,  appealing  to  the  awe  and 
wonder  of  mankind,  was  exalted  and 
worshiped  ;  worshiped  not  only  as  the 
creator  of  human  life,  but  as  the  personi- 
fication or  symbol  of  the  world's  creator ; 
for,  in  common  with  all  other  manifesta- 
tions of  nature,  the  creative  force  was 
deified  ;  it  was  ascribed  to  a  superhuman 
personality,  an  omnipotent  god,  who  was 
the  Creator,  the  Father,  of  all  things,  and 
hence  the  supreme  deity.  His  power 
was  necessarily  almighty ;  it  was  he  who 
controlled  life  and  procreation,  and  the 
phallus  was  the  incarnation  of  his  power 
for  the  accomplishment  of  life's  great  pur- 
pose. 

When  we  consider  the  vital  importance 
attached  to  the  begetting  of  children,  in 


48  SEX   WORSHIP. 

ancient  times,  we  can  more  readily  com- 
prehend the  veneration  felt  for  the  organ 
of  generation  as  their  creator ;  as  the 
divine  instrumentality  through  which  a 
man's  and  woman's  life  duty  was  fulfilled. 
Barrenness  was  not  only  an  affliction,  but 
a  curse.  To  be  childless  was  to  a  woman 
worse  than  death.  It  was  the  supreme 
religious  duty  of  every  woman  to  bear 
children  and  perpetuate  the  seed  of  man- 
kind, and  it  was  at  the  same  time  the 
highest  ambition  of  every  man  to  beget 
sons  and  daughters.  Of  this  we  have 
ample  evidence  in  the  Scriptures  and 
other  ancient  records. 

We  are  told,  for  example,  how  earnestly 
Abraham  and  Sarah  longed  for  a  child, 
and  that  in  their  extremity  "  Sarai  said 
unto  Abram,  Behold  now  the  Lord  hath 
restrained  me  from  bearing ;  I  pray  thee  go 
in  unto  my  maid  ;  it  may  be  that  I  may  ob- 
tain children  by  her.  And  Abram  heark- 
ened to  the  voice  of  Sarai  "  (Gen.  16  :  2). 

So,  also  in  the  thirtieth  chapter  of 
Genesis,  we  read  of  the  despair  of  Rachel 


THE   CREATOR.  49 

at  her  barrenness — "  And  when  Rachel 
saw  that  she  bare  Jacob  no  children,  Rachel 
envied  her  sister  ;  and  said  unto  Jacob, 
Give  me  children,  or  else  I  die  !  "  and  she, 
too,  as  a  last  resort,  gave  her  maid  to  her 
husband,  in  order  to  thus  in  a  measure 
palliate  her  affliction.  And,  again,  in 
the  first  chapter  of  I.  Samuel,  we  learn  of 
the  misery  endured  by  Hannah,  "  because 
the  Lord  had  shut  up  her  womb.  And 
she  was  in  bitterness  of  soul,  and  prayed 
unto  the  Lord,  and  wept  sore." 

To  die  a  virgin,  as  Jephthah's  daughter 
was  obliged  to  do,  as  the  result  of  her  fa- 
ther's rash  vow, — to  die  without  having 
borne  children, — was  an  awful  punishment 
and  curse  in  the  eyes  of  the  ancient  world. 
Rather  than  submit  to  the  possibility  of 
such  a  fate  women  would  resort  to  deceit, 
treachery  and  crime,  as  justifiable  under 
the  circumstances ;  as  we  see  in  the  case 
of  Tamar,  who  deceived  her  father-in-law,* 
and  in  the  story  of  Lot's  daughters,  who 
committed  incest  with  their  father,  while 

*  Gen.  38  :    13-26. 
2O 


5O  SEX   WORSHIP. 

dwelling  in  their  secluded  abode  in  the 
mountain,  "  because  there  is  not  a  man  in 
the  earth  to  come  in  unto  us  after  the 
manner  of  all  the  earth  ;  "  and,  according 
to  the  account  as  related  in  the  nineteenth 
chapter  of  Genesis,  they  accomplished 
their  purpose  through  imposition  and 
strategy, 

In  short,  the  begetting  of  children  was 
the  highest  and  holiest  aim  in  life,  the  sole 
purpose  of  human  existence ;  an  ancient 
belief  which  is  so  abundantly  demon- 
strated in  the  old  Testament,  and  so  well 
known,  as  scarcely  to  require  particular 
mention  here. 

Naturally,  the  woman,  as  well  as  the 
man,  looked  to  the  Creator  as  the  supreme 
source  of  worldly  happiness  and  comfort. 
Through  him  alone  could  be  obtained  the 
greatest  of  all  blessings  and  the  accom- 
plishment of  life's  purpose  ;  and  it  was  to 
him,  therefore,  that  the  woman  prayed  for 
children,  even  as  the  woman  of  to-day 
prays  to  God  for  a  similar  blessing.  But 
to  the  woman  of  the  past  the  Creator  was 


THE  CREATOR.  5 1 

not  an  abstract,  impersonal,  undefinable 
being.  To  her  he  was  a  substantial  ac- 
tuality, existing  for  a  specific  and  well- 
defined  purpose ;  closely  and  definitely 
associated  with  the  object  of  her  prayers. 
He  was  directly  and  personally  concerned 
in  the  act  of  generation,  the  sole  and 
supreme  purpose  for  which  he  had  brought 
mankind  into  the  world.  It  was  the  Creator 
himself  who  came  to  her,  through  the 
medium  of  the  man.  The  phallus  was  his 
divine  personality,  his  actual  presence  in 
material  form  and  potent  activity. 

That  this  was  the  idea  entertained  of 
the  Creator  in  ancient  times,  is  shown  by 
such  expressions  as  we  find,  for  example, 
in  the  twenty-first  chapter  of  Genesis 
(relating  to  the  conception  and  birth  of 
Isaac) :  "  And  the  Lord  visited  Sarah  as 
he  had  said,  and  the  Lord  did  unto  Sarah 
as  he  had  spoken.  For  Sarah  conceived, 
and  bare  Abraham  a  son  in  his  old  age." 

So,  also,  we  are  told  that  "  God  remem- 
bered Rachel,  and  God  hearkened  to  her, 
and  opened  her  womb."  (Gen.  30:  22.) 


52  SEX   WORSHIP. 

And,  again,  it  is  related  that  "  the  Lord 
visited  Hannah,  so  that  she  conceived, 
and  bare  three  sons  and  two  daughters." 
(I  Sam.  2  :  21.) 

That  the  husband  was  considered  as 
simply  the  instrument  of  God,  is  further 
significantly  demonstrated  in  the  related 
fact,  that  Jacob  resented  his  wife's  plea  to 
him  for  children :  "  And  Jacob's  anger 
was  kindled  against  Rachel :  and  he  said, 
"  Am  I  in  God's  stead  who  hath  withheld 
from  thee  the  fruit  of  the  womb?"  (Gen. 
30:  2.) 

It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  the  idea 
of  the  Creator  was  very  closely  associated 
with  what  his  name  specifically  signifies. 
The  phallus  was  his  most  sacred  emblem 
or  representative,  and,  according  to  the 
Old  Testament,  it  is  clearly  shown  that 
the  God  of  the  Hebrews  so  regarded  it 
himself  ;  for  he  ordained  that  it  should  be 
specially  marked,  and  should  thus  con- 
stitute the  sacred  token  of  the  contract 
between  himself  and  his  chosen  people, 
and  to  this  day  the  rite  of  circumcision  is 


THE   CREATOR.  53 

practised  by  the  Jews,  in  accordance  with 
this  command,  which  Jehovah  gave  to 
Abraham,  the  father  of  the  Israelites,  nine- 
teen hundred  years  before  Christ :  "  And 
God  said  unto  Abraham.  .  .  This  is  my 
covenant,  which  ye  shall  keep  between 
me  and  you  and  thy  seed  after  thee  ;  every 
man  child  among  you  shall  be  circumcised. 
And  ye  shall  circumcise  the  flesh  of  your 
foreskin  ;  and  it  shall  be  a  token  of  the  cov- 
enant betwixt  me  and  you.  .  .  He  that  is 
born  in  thy  house,  and  he  that  is  bought 
with  thy  money,  must  needs  be  circum- 
cised :  and  my  covenant  shall  be  in  your 
flesh  for  an  everlasting  covenant."  (Gen. 
17:  10-14.) 

In  the  fifth  chapter  of  Joshua  we  are 
told  that  the  Lord  said  unto  Joshua, 
"  Make  thee  sharp  knives,  and  circumcise 
again  the  children  of  Israel  a  second  time." 
And  when  all  the  people  had  been  circum- 
cised, "  the  Lord  said  unto  Joshua,  This 
day  have  I  rolled  away  the  reproach  of 
Egypt  from  off  you." 

From  this  it  is  apparent  that  circumci- 


54  SEX   WORSHIP. 

sion  was  not  only  a  token  of  sanctification, 
but  of  salvation  as  well,  and  the  eminent 
importance  attached  to  it  by  the  Al- 
mighty is  attested  by  numerous  passages 
in  the  Bible ;  being  very  forcibly  shown 
by  the  statement,  to  be  found  in  the  fourth 
chapter  of  Exodus,  that  the  Lord  was  on 
the  point  of  killing  Moses,  because  he  had 
neglected  to  circumcise  one  of  his  sons, 
and  was  only  saved  by  the  timely  interven- 
tion of  his  wife,  Zipporah,  who  "  took  a 
sharp  stone,  and  cut  off  the  foreskin  of  her 
son." 

That  the  virile  member  was  considered 
as  specially  sacred  to  the  Creator,  either 
as  his  symbol  or  as  the  instrument  by 
which  his  divine  power  was  fulfilled,  is 
universally  evidenced  in  all  the  ancient 
faiths  and  customs.  In  addition  to  the 
right  of  circumcision,  just  mentioned,  the 
Old  Testament  affords  numerous  examples 
of  the  holiness  attached  to  this  symbol. 
It  was  a  common  custom  among  the 
Hebrews,  when  taking  a  solemn  oath,  to 
lay  the  hands  upon  the  generative  organ  of 


THE   CREATOR.  55 

the  person  to  whom  the  vow  or  promise 
was  given.  This  was  as  solemn  and  de- 
vout a  procedure  as  is  the  present  method 
of  kissing  the  Bible  or  holding  up  the  right 
hand,  and  was  indicative  of  the  same  mean- 
ing— that  of  calling  upon  God  to  wit- 
ness the  truth  and  sincerity  of  the  oath. 

This  custom  is  referred  to  in  the  24th 
chapter  of  Genesis,  where  we  are  told  that 
"Abraham  said  unto  his  eldest  servant, 
.  .  .  Put,  I  pray  thee,  thy  hand  under  my 
thigh :  and  I  will  make  thee  swear  by  the 
Lord,  the  God  of  Heaven  and  the  God 
of  the  earth,  etc.,"  and  again,  in  the  47th 
chapter  of  the  same  book,  it  is  recorded  that 
when  Jacob  was  about  to  die  he  called 
Joseph  to  him,  and  bade  him. put  his  hand 
under  his  thigh,  and  promise  that  he  would 
not  bury  him  in  Egypt.  This  practice  is 
still  to  be  found  in  certain  parts  of  Arabia 
and  Africa,  and  various  customs  of  a  like 
character  might  be  cited,  in  further  evi- 
dence of  the  sacred  relationship  supposed 
to  exist  between  the  organ  of  generation 
and  the  Creator.  It  was  through  it  that 


56  SEX  WORSHIP. 

the  Creator  manifested  his  supreme  power, 
and  hence  it  was  an  object  of  reverence 
and  worship,  even  as  was  the  Creator 
himself. 

In  many  instances  prayers  were  de- 
voutly offered  to  the  symbol,  in  the  be- 
lief that  God  was  thereby  being  addressed, 
and  the  primitive  belief  in  the  actual  pres- 
ence of  the  Creator,  in  the  generative  act, 
is  again  shown  by  the  ancient  religious 
practice  of  women  submitting  themselves 
to  the  embraces  of  the  priests  as  the  rep- 
resentatives of  God.  This  practice  was 
not  an  unusual  one,  and  was  resorted  to 
especially  by  barren  women,  in  the  devout 
belief  that  by  this  means  they  secured 
divine  intercourse  with  their  god,  or  the 
procreative  deity,  and  thereby  rendered 
certain  their  chances  for  bearing  children. 

This  custom  is  still  practised  in  India, 
and  it  is  not  uncommon  for  a  husband  to 
accompany  his  wife  to  the  priest,  and  re- 
main a  reverential  spectator  of  the  act 
representing  the  union  of  God  and  the 
woman.  In  various  parts  of  India  certain 


THE  CREATOR.  57 

days  are  set  apart  in  each  year  for  the 
visitation  of  the  creative  deity,  on  which 
occasions  the  women  repair  to  the  temples 
and  there  receive  from  the  priests  the 
sacred  blessing  that  they  are  unable  to 
obtain  from  the  Creator  through  the  me- 
dium of  their  husbands. 

Next  in  importance  to  procreation  itself, 
is  the  cause  that  determines  the  sex  of  the 
offspring.  Why  should  a  man  beget  a 
son  at  one  time  and  a  daughter  at  another  ? 
What  is  the  reason  for  this  sexual  differ- 
ence? This  is  the  question  we  are  vainly 
asking  ourselves  to-day,  and  is  the  same 
question  that  bothered  the  minds  of  men 
in  the  past  ages.  Naturally,  an  explana- 
tion was  looked  for  in  some  characteristic 
of  the  phallus,  as  the  responsible  creator  ; 
and  while  this  did  not  lead  to  a  definite 
solution  of  the  mystery,  it  resulted  in  the 
important  discovery  that  the  appendages 
of  the  organ  play  an  important  and  neces- 
sary part  in  the  act  of  creation,  and  the 
supposed  difference  in  their  relative  size 
and  position  gave  rise  to  the  theory, — 


58  SEX   WORSHIP. 

which  is  held  by  many  at  the  present  day, 
— that  the  right  testicle  is  the  producer 
of  the  stronger  sex,  while  the  left  or 
smaller  one  is  responsible  for  the  women 
of  the  world.  That  this  belief  was  gener- 
ally entertained  by  the  ancients,  is  evi- 
denced by  the  allusions  to  it  in  the  early 
records,  including  the  Old  Testament, 
where  fathers  refer  to  their  sons  as  the 
children  of  their  right  side. 

It  became  evident,  therefore,  that  the 
perfect  creator  consisted  of  three  parts, 
each  distinct  and  complete  in  itself,  but  so 
dependent  one  upon  the  other  for  the  ful- 
fillment of  their  office,  that  it  was  only  in 
their  unity  and  co-operation  that  they 
were  capable  of  productive  activity  as  an 
absolute  and  perfect  One. 

From  this  it  is  not  difficult  to  under- 
stand how  the  creative  deity  came  to  be 
regarded  as  a  triune  being,  nor  should  it 
be  surprising  to  learn,  therefore,  that  the 
worship  of  a  trinity  dates  back  to  the 
dimmest  and  most  remote  past.  The 
Assyrians,  one  of  the  most  ancient  nations 


THE  CREATOR.  59 

of  the  world,  worshiped  a  trinity  known 
as  Asshur,  Anu  and  Hoa,  and  upon  a 
study  of  the  derivation  of  these  names 
we  find  that  they  refer  directly  to  the 
triune  generative  organ.  Asshur  repre- 
sents the  phallus,  for  the  name  plainly 
signifies  the  erect  one,  the  upright  member. 
The  right  testicle,  which,  as  the  assistant 
in  the  production  of  male  children,  was 
held  next  in  rank  to  the  phallus  itself,  is 
represented  by  Anu,  a  name  derived  from 
the  word  meaning  strength,  particularly 
manly  strength  or  power,  while  Hoa,  the 
third  member  of  the  trinity,  has  reference 
to  the  feminine  element. 

In  this,  as  in  all  subsequent  trinities  of 
theology,  the  individuals  composing  it 
were  of  relative  rank  ;  three  distinct  enti- 
ties or  members,  each  necessary  to  the 
other,  working  together  as  one  toward  one 
end.  As  a  whole  they  constituted  the 
supreme  god,  the  Creator,  under  the  col- 
lective name  of  Bel.  While  the  custom 
of  giving  to  a  trinity  a  name  distinct  from 
any  of  its  component  individuals,  is  a  com- 


60  SEX   WORSHIP. 

mon  one  in  all  religions,  it  is  not  gener- 
ally observed,  for,  as  a  rule,  the  Trinity, 
or  complete  Creator,  is  known  under  the 
name  of  the  first  in  rank, — as  Asshur,  the 
Lord  of  Lords. 

We  find,  therefore,  that  the  triune  com- 
position of  the  masculine  creator  was 
early  recognized,  and  the  veneration  in 
which  the  complete  and  perfect  male  or- 
gan was  held,  is  most  clearly  shown  by  the 
fact  that  it  was  the  subject  of  religious  or- 
dinances. Of  this  we  find  ample  demon- 
stration in  the  Old  Testament,  where,  for 
example,  in  the  book  of  Deuteronomy, 
we  learn  that  Jehovah  himself  ordained, 
that  "  he  that  is  wounded  in  the  stones, 
or  hath  his  privy  member  cut  off,  shall  not 
enter  the  congregation  of  the  Lord ;  " 
plainly  indicating  the  divine  importance 
attached  to  the  perfect  condition  of  this 
symbol  of  the  Creator. 

This  holy  regard  for  the  soundness  and 
at  the  same  time  for  the  safety  of  the  gen- 
erative organ,  is  perhaps  more  fully  shown 
*  Deut.  23  :  i. 


THE  CREATOR.  6l 

in  the  25th  chapter  of  the  same  book, 
where  it  is  commanded  by  the  Lord,  that 
a  woman  shall  have  her  hand  cut  off  if  she 
takes  hold  of  her  husband  by  the  genitals, 
even  though  it  be  in  a  case  of  extremity 
for  the  purpose  of  delivering  him  from  an 
enemy. 

It  must  not  be  supposed,  however,  that 
this  religious  reverence  for  perfect  mascu- 
linity is  confined  to  the  past,  for  at  the 
present  day  one  who  is  sexually  mutilated, 
and  therefore  not  "a  man,"  cannot  be  con- 
secrated as  a  priest  nor  promoted  to  a 
bishopric  ;  much  less,  exalted  to  the  pa- 
pal throne. 

This  requirement,  that  religious  teach- 
ers and  leaders  shall  possess  a  generative 
organism  perfect  in  form  and  function,  is 
a  very  general  one,  and  always  has  been. 
We  are  told  that  fifteen  hundred  years  be- 
fore Christ  the  Lord  expressly  forbade  a 
priest  to  practise  his  vocation  if  his  mas- 
culinity was  impaired  (Lev.  21 :  20). 

A  eunuch  or  impotent  man  has  always 
been  a  despised  and  accursed  creature, 


62  SEX  WORSHIP. 

scorned  alike  by  man  and  God.  In  olden 
times  castration  was  regarded  as  a  punish- 
ment far  worse  than  that  of  death  ;  a  fate 
that  degraded  a  man  below  the  level  of 
the  meanest  and  lowest  brute.  The  more 
virile  a  man  was,  the  greater  was  the  re- 
spect he  inspired  ;  and  the  veneration  paid 
to  a  god  was  always  proportionate  to  the 
sexual  abilities  ascribed  to  him.  Such 
deities  as  were  held  to  be  more  strongly 
endowed  with  virility,  and  whose  office 
pertained  more  directly  to  theprocreative 
functions,  were  honored  above  their  fellow 
gods,  and  thus  it  is  that  the  Creator,  the 
almighty  and  everlasting  Producer,  has 
ever  been  the  supreme  god.  His  creative 
powers  are  unlimited  ;  hence,  he  is  the 
ruler,  the  master  of  all  other  gods  and  of 
men. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  PHALLUS. 

THE  worship  of  the  phallus,  the  mas- 
culine symbol  of  creation,  dates  back  into 
the  hidden  and  unknown  ages  of  the  past. 
The  earliest  records  of  the  Egyptians  and 
the  Hindoos  refer  to  phallic  worship  as  an 
old-established  institution,  showing  that 
thousands  of  years  before  the  Christian 
era  it  had  already  given  rise  to  elaborate 
systems  of  theology.  All  of  these  re- 
ligions had  for  their  dominant  object  the 
worship  of  the  procreative  powers  of  na- 
ture, as  symbolized  by  the  generative 
organs,  which  were  represented  in  images 
and  emblems  of  the  greatest  diversity  and 
variety. 

Prominent  among  these  representations 
was  the  phallus,  which,  in  its  stricter  sense, 
has  reference  more  to  the  image  of  the 

63 


64  SEX   WORSHIP. 

male  organ  than  to  the  organ  itself.  These 
images,  in  exact  representation  of  the 
masculine  member,  were  very  common 
among  the  ancients.  They  were  made  in 
every  conceivable  variety  of  form  and 
size,  many  of  them  being  molded  in  plas- 
tic material,  and  others  carved  from  wood, 
stone  and  ivory.  Sometimes  they  rep- 
resented the  organ  in  its  passive  state,  in 
which  form  it  was  generally  of  diminutive 
size,  and  worn  as  an  amulet  by  the  women. 
Such  amulets  are  still  common  among 
the  phallic  worshipers  of  India,  many  of 
them  being  of  minute  size  and  made  of 
gold,  silver,  ivory,  crystal  or  sacred  wood. 
These  are  worn  upon  the  arm  or  breast 
and  in  the  turban. 

The  most  common  form  of  these  phal- 
lic images,  however,  was  the  realistic  rep- 
resentation of  the  phallus  in  its  upright 
position,  in  which  shape  it  was  regarded 
as  more  clearly  exhibiting  the  divine  at- 
tribute of  the  Creator.  When  used  as 
household  idols  these  images  were  about 
life-size,  but  those  employed  in  religious 


THE   PHALLUS.  65 

festivals  and  in  the  temples  were  much 
exaggerated,  reaching  sometimes  to  a 
height  of  twenty  or  thirty  feet,  with  cor- 
responding proportions  throughout. 

Many  of  the  Greek  and  Roman  tem- 
ples, in  common  with  those  of  other  na- 
tions, were  especially  dedicated  to  the 
phallus,  which  occupied  the  most  prom- 
inent and  holy  part  of  the  sacred  edifice, 
and  received  the  worship  and  adoration 
of  the  devotees,  who  presented  it  with  of- 
ferings of  flowers  and  wine,  and  prayed  to 
it,  as  the  hallowed  representative  of  the 
Creator. 

This  image  was  a  prominent  feature  in 
the  Bacchanalia  and  other  springtime 
festivals  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  in 
celebration  of  the  regeneration  of  life. 
On  these  occasions  the  women  repaired  to 
the  temples  of  this  idol,  and  there  per- 
formed the  mysteries  connected  with 
its  worship,  as  the  representative  of  the 
Divine  Regenerator ;  singing  the  while 
hymns  of  praise  to  the  deity,  and  anoint- 
ing the  sacred  phallus  with  consecrated 
5 


66  SEX   WORSHIP. 

wine,  besides  wreathing  it  with  flowers 
and  presenting  offerings  of  various  kinds. 

The  Roman  Liberalia,  which  were  held 
in  March,  were  a  festive  though  religious 
celebration  in  honor  of  Liber,  another  title 
of  Bacchus,  the  god  of  generative  power. 
This  was  an  occasion  of  general  rejoicing, 
and  was  not  confined  to  a  particular  place 
or  set  of  worshipers,  as  in  the  case  of  the 
Bacchanalian  mysteries,  but  was  observed 
by  the  people  in  all  parts  of  Italy  and  the 
Roman  provinces. 

The  phallus,  as  the  symbol  of  Bacchus, 
played  an  important  part  in  these  festivi- 
ties. In  many  places  this  emblem  of  re- 
generated life  was  placed  in  a  chariot,  and, 
covered  with  flowers  and  attended  by  a 
merry  crowd  of  men,  women  and  children, 
was  drawn  about  the  fields,  along  the 
highways  and  through  the  towns,  amid 
the  rejoicings  and  acclamations  of  the 
people. 

In  some  of  the  towns  and  cities,  a  mag- 
nificent car  bearing  an  enormous  phallus, 
gaily  decorated,  was  slowly  drawn  through 


THE   PHALLUS.  67 

the  streets,  accompanied  by  a  great  proces- 
sion of  people,  and  in  this  manner  was 
borne  to  the  center  of  the  forum,  where  it 
came  to  a  halt.  The  most  respected  ma- 
tron of  the  town,  as  worthy  of  the  post  of 
honor,  then  advanced  amid  the  joyous 
shouts  of  the  populace,  and  crowned  the 
symbol  of  the  deity  with  a  wreath  of  ivy. 
The  festival  of  Venus,  the  goddess  of 
love  and  regeneration,  was  celebrated  by 
the  Roman  women  at  the  same  time,  or 
soon  after,  the  Liberalia.  This  celebra- 
tion was  attended  with  rejoicings  and 
merry-making,  and  a  general  relaxation  of 
the  strict  rules  of  feminine  decorum.  In 
the  formal  ceremonies  of  the  occasion  the 
ladies  proceeded  in  state  to  the  Quirinal, 
the  hill  of  Romulus,  where  stood  the  tem- 
ple containing  the  sacred  phallus.  This 
holy  emblem  was  taken  possession  of  by 
the  women,  who  then  formed  in  proces- 
sion and  reverently  escorted  it  to  the 
temple  of  Venus,  where  they  presented  it 
to  that  goddess  amid  elaborate  and  joyful 
rites. 


68  SEX   WORSHIP. 

This  ceremony  is  illustrated  by  a  de- 
sign on  an  old  Roman  gem,  which  shows 
a  triumphal  chariot  bearing  an  altar,  upon 
which  rests  a  colossal  phallus.  A  female 
figure  hovers  over  this  symbol,  holding  a 
crown  of  flowers  above  it.  The  chariot, 
which  is  under  a  richly  decorated  canopy 
supported  by  four  semi-nude  women,  is 
drawn  by  bulls  and  goats,  which  are  ridden 
by  winged  children  and  preceded  by  a 
band  of  women  blowing  trumpets.  At 
the  destination  of  the  procession  is  a  rep- 
resentation of  a  vulva  upheld  by  two 
genii. 

When  the  celebration  was  completed, 
after  placing  the  two  emblems  in  con- 
junction, the  phallus  was  devoutly  carried 
back  to  its  temple. 

Smaller  images  of  the  phallus  were  fre- 
quently set  up  by  the  roadside,  in  front 
of  the  doors  of  dwellings,  and  beneath  the 
trees  in  sacred  groves  and  woods.  The 
spot  on  which  this  holy  emblem  stood 
was  regarded  as  hallowed  ground,  and  the 
images  received  the  same  pious  reverence 


THE   PHALLUS.  69 

and  adoration  as  is  to-day  paid  to  the 
symbols  of  Christianity. 

No  doubt,  many  of  the  devotees  re- 
garded the  phallus  as  the  deity  itself, 
even  as  is  the  case  with  many  to-day,  who 
pray  to  the  image  of  the  Virgin  or  the 
crucified  Savior,  yet  their  devotion  and 
piety  were  none  the  less  deep  and  sin- 
cere. The  woman  who  knelt  before  the 
consecrated  image  of  the  masculine  crea- 
tive power,  and  prayed  for  the  blessing 
of  children,  was  as  earnest  and  modest  as 
is  the  Christian  woman  of  this  day  who 
invokes  a  similar  boon  from  the  holy 
Virgin  or  the  Father. 

The  chances  for  securing  fruitfulness 
were  considered  better  if  the  prayer  was 
offered  while  in  contact  with  the  image, 
and  for  this  reason  it  was  customary  for 
the  suppliants  to  bare  themselves  and  sit 
upon  the  phallus  while  praying. 

This  rite  is  still  practised  in  certain 
parts  of  the  world,  by  girls  and  women  of 
all  ages  and  stations,  for  the  purpose  of 
invoking  divine  aid.  In  oriental  villages 


7O  SEX  WORSHIP. 

it  is  common  to  see  two  stones — one,  flat 
and  circular,  the  other,  small,  smooth  and 
upright — standing  near  together  in  some 
secluded  nook  or  grove.  The  suppliant 
steps  upon  the  circular  stone,  adjusts  her 
drapery,  and,  seating  herself  upon  the 
upright  stone,  repeats  a  short  prayer  and 
calls  upon  her  god  for  some  desired  bless- 
ing. 

A  writer,  who  was  long  a  sojourner  in 
India,  relates  that  "  Many  a  day  have  I 
sat  at  early  dawn  in  the  door  of  my  tent, 
pitched  in  a  sacred  grove,  and  gazed  at 
the  little  group  of  females  stealthily 
emerge  from  the  adjoining,  half-sleeping 
village,  each  with  a  garland  or  bunch  of 
flowers,  and,  when  none  were  thought  to 
see,  accompany  their  prayer  for  pooli- 
palam  (child-fruit)  with  a  respectful  ab- 
rasion of  a  certain  part  of  their  person  on 
a  phallus." 

By  reason  of  its  sacredness  the  phallus 
was  considered  a  charm  against  evil  spirits, 
and  it  is  occasionally  found  in  ancient 
tombs,  where  it  was  placed  to  guard  the 


THE   PHALLUS.  71 

dead  from  the  Evil  One.  A  remarkable 
instance  of  this  custom  was  discovered  not 
long  since  in  Egypt,  where  there  was  found 
at  Thebes  the  mummy  of  a  woman  of 
rank,  with  whom  there  was  buried  the 
embalmed  phallus  of  a  bull. 

The  use  and  worship  of  phallic  images 
is  referred  to  in  the  most  ancient  records. 
In  the  book  of  Genesis  it  is  related,  that 
when  Jacob  with  his  family  and  flocks  left 
the  house  of  Laban,  his  wife,  Rachel, 
carried  away  with  her  Laban's  teraphim, 
which  were  small  images  of  men,  with  the 
phallus  constituting  the  prominent  feature. 

The  sacred  importance  attached  to  these 
images  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  Laban 
went  afterjacob,  and,  overtaking  his  son- 
in-law  at  the  end  of  a  seven-days'  journey, 
asked,  "  Wherefore  hast  thou  stolen  my 
gods  ?  "  and  Jacob,  not  knowing  that  his 
wife  had  taken  them,  told  Laban  that  if 
he  found  the  images  on  any  one  of  his 
people,  that  person  should  be  put  to 
death.  In  order  not  to  be  discovered, 
Rachel  sat  upon  the  idols,  "  and  said  to 


72  SEX   WORSHIP. 

her 'father,  Let  it  not  displease  my  lord 
that  I  cannot  rise  before  thee ;  for  the 
custom  of  women  is  upon  me.  And  he 
searched,  but  found  not  the  images." 
(Gen.  31:  30-35.) 

Again,  in  the  book  of  Judges  we  learn 
that  Micah  made  some  of  these  images  for 
himself,  and  that  the  Danites  took  them 
from  him  and  worshiped  them  ;  *  and  in 
the  first  book  of  Kings  is  an  account  of 
Maachah,  who  was  "  removed  from  being 
queen,  because  she  had  made  an  idol  in  a 
grove"  (15  :  13). 

In  fact,  the  Old  Testament  contains 
numerous  references  to  images  and  idols 
of  this  character  ;  nor  must  it  be  supposed 
that  the  use  of  such  emblems  is  peculiar 
to  the  remote  past  ;  for,  as  will  be  pres- 
ently shown,  they  are  abundantly  general 
in  India,  and  are  common  in  other  phallic- 
worshiping  nations  of  this  day ;  as  in 
Dahomey,  for  example,  where  phallic  fig- 
ures are  prominent  in  the  streets  of  every 
settlement. 

*  Judges  17  :   5  ;  18  :  18-31. 


THE   PHALLUS.  73 

To  within  a  very  short  time  ago  they 
figured  prominently  in  the  Christian  festi- 
val of  St.  Cosmo  and  Damiano,  at  Isernia, 
in  Italy  ;  on  which  occasion  phallic  images 
of  wax  were  offered  to  the  priest  by  the 
female  devotees,  accompanied  by  prayers 
for  matrimonial  and  maternal  bless- 
ings. 

A  similar  custom  prevailed  in  certain 
parts  of  France,  where  these  wax  offerings 
were  made  to  St.  Foutin,  the  patron  saint 
of  virility ;  and  as  a  further  evidence  of  the 
existence  of  modified  phallic  worship,  in 
connection  with  Christianity,  it  is  author- 
itatively related,  that  at  Orange,  in  the 
church  of  St.  Eutropius,  was  a  phallus 
made  of  wood  and  covered  with  leather, 
which  was  highly  venerated  by  the  in- 
habitants of  the  town,  as  a  symbol  of 
the  saint,  whose  aid  was  sought  in  all 
matters  pertaining  to  the  generative  func- 
tions. 

The  phallus  was  frequently  pictured  on 
coins,  in  sculpture  and  upon  vases  and 
other  articles,  as  may  be  seen  in  the  re- 


74  SEX  WORSHIP. 

mains  that  have  been  found,  not  only  in 
the  ancient  cities,  but  in  those  of  more 
modern  times.  Bas-reliefs  from  some  of 
the  old  buildings  in  France  show  singular 
varieties  of  the  phallus,  some  of  them 
double  and  triple  and  provided  with  wings, 
claws,  beaks,  etc.  One  is  bridled  and 
ridden  by  a  sprite,  another  is  shown  re- 
ceiving the  adoration  of  female  devotees, 
while  still  another  is  depicted  standing  on 
human  legs.  These,  as  well  as  those 
pictured  on  lamps  and  vases  used  for  sacer- 
dotal purposes,  were  designed  as  symboli- 
cal of  religious  ideas. 

Numerous  examples  of  phallic  statuary, 
and  of  phallic-figured  vases  and  dishes, 
have  been  found  in  Rome  and  other 
Italian  cities  ;  particularly  among  the  ruins 
of  Pompeii  and  Herculaneum.  In  the 
museum  at  Portici,  for  example,  on  the 
cover  of  an  ancient  vase  that  had  been 
used  for  sacred  purposes,  is  a  large  phallus, 
which  is  being  embraced  by  a  woman ; 
while  another  vase  shows  a  dealer  in  phalli 
offering  a  basketful  of  his  wares  to  a  group 


THE   PHALLUS.  75 

of  women.  Though  the  religious  signifi- 
cance of  such  designs  is  scarcely  appre- 
ciated at  this  day,  the  very  fact  that  they 
were  depicted  on  articles  used  in  the 
sanctuaries,  is  evidence  of  the  sacred  mean- 
ing originally  attached  to  them. 

Under  its  Hindu  name  of  lingam  the 
phallus  is  still  universally  used  as  a  religious 
symbol  throughout  India,  where  phallic 
worship  has  flourished  unabated  for  thou- 
sands of  years.  The  lingam  is  the  divine 
symbol  of  Siva,  the  Reproducer,  the  third 
member  of  the  Hindu  creative  trinity,  and 
is  to  be  found  in  every  temple  dedicated 
to  his  worship.  It  is  generally  in  the  sanc- 
tum, or  holy  of  holies,  and  garlanded  with 
flowers  or  adorned  with  other  offerings. 
These  lingams  are  made  of  granite,  marble, 
ivory  and  precious  wood,  and  are  gener- 
ally of  very  large  size,  some  reaching  to 
the  enormous  height  of  forty  feet,  and 
measuring  twenty-five  feet  in  circumfer- 
ence. 

The  temples  of  the  lingam  are  to  be 
seen  in  great  numbers  on  the  banks  of  the 


76  SEX  WORSHIP. 

Ganges,  especially  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Calcutta.  Their  presence  near  the  river 
invests  them  with  greater  sanctity  than  if 
built  in  the  interior  of  the  country,  the 
river  being  considered  particularly  sacred. 
Connected  with  nearly  every  one  of  these 
temples,  is  a  small  house,  open  in  front,  for 
the  accommodation  of  the  devotees  who 
come  there  to  die  in  sight  of  the  river. 
The  temples  occur  in  groups  of  eight  or 
ten,  while  at  some  places  as  many  as  a 
hundred  are  located  within  short  range  of 
one  another. 

The  priests  connected  with  these  tem- 
ples are  sworn  to  the  strictest  chastity ; 
and,  as  they  are  nude  while  officiating, 
any  carnal  excitement  of  the  imagina- 
tion would  manifest  itself  in  the  external 
organs,  and  would  result  in  the  summary 
stoning  of  the  unfaithful  priest. 

While  the  lingams  in  the  temples  are 
of  gigantic  proportions,  those  used  for 
domestic  worship  are  but  a  few  inches  in 
height ;  and,  as  before  stated,  this  em- 
blem in  diminutive  size  is  worn  as  an 


THE   PHALLUS.  77 

amulet  or  charm,  and  is  used  by  the 
Hindoos  in  prayer  as  the  pious  Catholic 
uses  the  symbol  or  image  of  his  patron- 
saint. 

The  worship  of  the  lingam  is  an  im- 
portant and  necessary  religious  rite,  and 
when  fully  and  properly  performed  in 
accordance  with  the  prescribed  ritual,  is 
a  very  elaborate  ceremony,  consisting  of 
sixteen  essential  requisites,  including  a 
prefatory  bath  of  purification  by  the 
worshiper,  the  bathing  of  the  lingam  with 
clarified  butter,  honey  and  the  juice  of 
sugar  cane,  the  offering  of  flowers,  incense, 
lamps,  fruits  and  various  kinds  of  pre- 
pared edibles,  the  repetition  of  prayers, 
and  the  walking  about  and  bowing  before 
the  image. 

It  is  not  necessary  that  this  worship 
should  take  place  in  the  temple,  but  may 
be  performed  in  any  purified  place.  It 
is  considered  most  efficacious  when  per- 
formed on  the  bank  of  a  holy  river  be- 
fore a  lingam  formed  of  clay.  The  Hin- 
doos of  every  caste  and  of  both  sexes 


78  SEX   WORSHIP. 

make  images  of  this  symbol  with  the 
clay  of  the  Ganges,  every  morning  after 
bathing,  and  worship  before  them  ;  bow- 
ing, presenting  offerings,  and  repeating 
incantations.  Upon  the  completion  of 
the  ceremony  the  image  is  thrown  into 
the  river. 

Every  village  has  its  public  lingam,  two 
or  three  feet  in  height,  which  is  set  up  as 
a  talisman,  in  the  most  conspicuous  part 
of  the  town.  Early  in  the  morning  may 
be  seen  the  girls  and  women  of  the  neigh- 
borhood sprinkling  the  emblem  with  water 
from  the  Ganges,  decking  it  with  garlands 
of  flowers,  and,  while  rubbing  themselves 
against  it,  reciting  the  prescribed  incanta- 
tions and  entreating  the  deity  to  make 
them  fruitful  mothers. 

A  common  and  more  realistic  symbol 
of  the  procreative  power,  was  a  statue  or 
representation  of  the  male  figure,  either 
entirely  nude,  or  simply  exhibiting  the 
phallus,  which  was  generally  of  unnatu- 
rally large  size.  To  this  day  there  are 
to  be  seen  on  the  walls  of  the  temples  at 


THE   PHALLUS.  79 

Karnakand  Thebes  phallic  designs  of  this 
character ;  illustrating  how  intimately  the 
ideas  of  sexuality  and  religion  were  in- 
terwoven in  the  old  Egyptian  civiliza- 
tion. 

There  are  many  figures  of  their  gods 
and  kings,  showing  them  possessed  of 
unusual  and  abundant  virility.  These 
pictures  also  represent  the  castration  of 
captives,  a  common  method  of  punish- 
ment among  the  ancients,  who  regarded 
the  absence  of  sexual  power  as  the  most 
humiliating  disgrace  that  could  befall  a 
man.  The  Egyptian  god  Osiris  is  very 
frequently  depicted  with  large  and  promi- 
nent genitals,  as  a  mark  of  his  divine 
and  supreme  power,  and  images  of  him 
in  this  form  were  carried  about  in  the 
processions  connected  with  the  religious 
festivals  of  the  Egyptians. 

The  Roman  phallus-god  Priapus,  the 
deity  of  procreation,  was  always  repre- 
sented by  a  figure  of  this  kind ;  and  as  the 
Romans  were  ardent  worshipers  of  Priapus, 
and  introduced  the  worship  among  the 


80  SEX   WORSHIP. 

peoples  with  whom  they  came  in  con- 
tact, images  and  statues  of  this  kind  are 
not  rare  in  the  various  ancient  towns  of 
Italy  and  other  parts  of  Europe.  Roman 
coins,  sculpturing,  and  engraved  stones, 
or  gems,  abound  in  representations  of 
Priapus,  showing  him  in  all  forms  and  at- 
titudes ;  sometimes  alone,  but  frequently 
as  the  central  figure  in  suggestive  scenes 
or  unequivocal  sexual  pastimes. 

These  priapic  images  were  objects  of 
reverential  worship,  as  realistic  representa- 
tions of  the  creative  deity,  and  were  par- 
ticularly resorted  to  by  women  who  desired 
maternal  joys,  and  by  newly  married 
women,  who  were  required  to  sacrifice 
their  virginity  to  the  deity  through  the 
medium  of  his  holy  image. 

So  deep  was  the  faith  implanted  in  the 
common  mind  regarding  the  efficacy  of 
prayers  addressed  to  these  statues  of  the 
creative  deity,  that  the  worship  of  them 
in  certain  parts  of  France  continued  down 
to  within  a  comparatively  recent  time  ; 
the  only  difference  in  the  worship  being 


THE   PHALLUS.  8 1 

that  the  images  were  given  the  names  of 
Christian  saints,  instead  of  their  ancient 
pagan  name  of  Priapus. 

At  Bourg  Dieu,  near  Bourges,  the  in- 
habitants of  the  town  worshiped  one  of 
these  statues  that  had  existed  from  the 
time  of  the  Romans.  The  monks,  fearing 
to  put  an  end  to  this  old-established  re- 
ligious practice,  converted  the  ancient  god 
into  St.  Greluchon,  and  barren  women 
flocked  to  the  abbey  to  implore  the  saint's 
aid,  and  to  celebrate  a  novena  in  his 
honor.  The  devotee  would  stretch  her- 
self at  full  length  on  this  figure,  which  was 
laid  upon  the  floor,  and  would  then  scrape 
some  particles  from  the  phallus,  and  these 
particles  in  water  were  supposed  to  con- 
stitute a  miraculous  beverage. 

St.  Giles,  in  Brittany,  St.  R£n£,  in  An- 
jou,  and  St.  Regnaud  and  St.  Arnaud  were 
similarly  worshiped  ;  though  in  the  case  of 
the  latter  a  mystic  apron  usually  shrouded 
the  symbol  of  fecundity,  and  was  only 
raised  in  favor  of  sterile  devotees.  Its 

mere  inspection,  if  accompanied  with  true 
6 


82  SEX   WORSHIP. 

faith,  was  said  to  be  sufficient  to  effect 
miracles. 

St.  Foutin  was  one  of  the  most  popular 
of  the  saints  to  whom  were  ascribed 
the  power  of  procreation.  Statues  to  him 
were  common  in  various  parts  of  France, 
and  he  was  the  recipient  of  many  prayers 
and  offerings,  for  he  was  said  to  have  not 
only  the  gift  of  relieving  barren  women, 
but  of  restoring  exhausted  vitality  and 
curing  secret  diseases.  His  worship, 
therefore,  was  not  confined  to  the  female 
devotees,  but  was  shared  equally  by  the 
men,  who  would  devoutly  present  to  the 
priests,  as  offerings  to  the  saint,  wax  im- 
ages of  the  affected  parts,  in  the  pious  and 
sincere  belief  that  by  this  holy  means  they 
would  be  cured. 

Among  the  remains  of  a  church  at  Em- 
brun  was  found  the  phallus  of  a  statue  of 
this  saint,  which  was  stained  a  deep  red, 
as  the  result  of  the  custom  of  pouring  wine 
upon  it.  The  anointment  of  the  image 
in  this  manner  was  a  common  practice,  in 
connection  with  the  worship  of  the  saint; 


THE   PHALLUS.  8$ 

the  wine  thus  used  being  caught  in  a  jar 
and  allowed  to  turn  sour,  when,  under  the 
name  of  "  holy  vinegar,"  it  was  drunk  by 
the  women,  as  an  effective  and  infallible 
means  of  producing  fertility. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

PHALLIC  EMBLEMS. 

WHILE  statues  of  Priapus  and  images 
of  the  phallus  are  found  in  great  abundance 
in  the  remains  of  the  ancient  world,  and 
while  they  were  no  doubt  extensively  used 
at  all  times,  they  cannot  compare  in  num- 
bers and  importance  with  the  modified 
and  conventional  forms  of  the  creative 
symbol  that  we  find  scattered  all  over  the 
world,  in  endless  numbers  and  variety,  and 
unknowingly  preserved  by  us  to-day  in 
our  architecture,  our  symbols  and  our 
customs.  Realistic  representations  of  the 
masculine  generative  symbol  became  very 
readily  modified  into  more  formal  shapes, 
which  were  adopted  and  retained,  either 
for  the  sake  of  convenience,  because  they 
could  be  more  easily  made,  or  for  the 
reason  that  they  could  be  better  adapted 
to  certain  ceremonial  uses. 
84 


PHALLIC   EMBLEMS.  85 

Pre-eminent  among  this  class  of  phallic 
emblems  is  the  pillar.  It  is  not  difficult 
to  understand  how  the  large,  upright 
phallus  became  modified  into  the  con- 
ventional form  of  a  pillar.  In  fact,  many 
of  the  large  phalli  were  really  nothing 
more  than  pillars,  and  hence  a  plain  pillar, 
either  of  wood  or  stone,  was  adopted  as  a 
symbol  of  the  procreative  power.  It  was 
easily,  cheaply  and  readily  constructed, 
and  as  its  general  form  was  plainly  sug- 
gestive of  the  object  it  represented,  it  is 
not  surprising  that  it  became  one  of  the 
most  popular  and  most  numerous  of 
phallic  emblems. 

Remains  of  stone  pillars,  as  symbols  of 
the  Deity,  are  found  in  all  parts  of  the 
world.  They  are  numerous  throughout 
Europe,  the  British  Isles  and  America, 
while  in  Egypt  and  in  India  and  other 
Asiatic  countries,  they  abound  in  the 
greatest  profusion.  The  marvelous  Egyp- 
tian obelisks  are  nothing  more  nor  less 
than  large  pillars,  phallic  emblems,  erected 
in  honor  of  the  Creator  and  his  divine  at- 


86  SEX  WORSHIP. 

tribute.  Indeed,  all  ancient  structures  of 
this  kind — pillars,  columns,  obelisks  and 
monuments — are  of  phallic  significance, 
and  owe  their  existence  to  religious  mo- 
tives and  the  devout  endeavor  on  the 
part  of  mankind  to  honor  the  Creator. 

The  use  of  the  pillar  in  one  form  or  an- 
other was  very  extensive.  Remains  of 
this  emblem  in  all  parts  of  Europe  and  in 
England,  Scotland  and  Ireland  bear  evi- 
dence of  the  fact  that  phallic  worship  was 
not  confined  to  certain  localities  or  peoples, 
but  was  common  to  all  portions  of  the 
inhabited  world,  and  played  a  dominant 
part  in  the  religion  of  the  Scandina- 
vians, the  Teutons,  the  Saxons,  the  Celts, 
the  Gauls,  and  the  Britons,  besides  that 
of  the  Romans  and  the  Greeks.  To  cata- 
logue and  explain  the  monuments  and 
remains  of  phallicism  that  have  been  found 
in  Great  Britain  alone  would  require  a 
large  volume. 

Stone  phalli  in  the  form  of  pillars  are 
common  in  the  temples  of  China  and 
Japan,  and,  in  fact,  among  all  the  oriental 


PHALLIC    EMBLEMS.  87 

nations.  Passing  to  the  western  hemi- 
sphere, we  find  that  phallicism,  as  rep- 
resented by  this  emblem,  was  almost  uni- 
versal among  the  primitive  and  prehistoric 
races  of  both  continents. 

In  Yucatan  a  phallic  pillar  stands  in  front 
of  the  door  of  every  temple.  In  Peru  have 
been  found  numerous  examples  of  this  sym- 
bol, together  with  ancient  clay  phalli,  and 
water  jars  on  which  are  figured  gods  and 
goddesses  of  procreation  ;  their  functions 
and  attributes  being  prominently  por- 
trayed. In  the  center  of  the  great  square 
of  the  temple  of  the  sun  at  Cuzco  the  early 
European  explorers  found  a  stone  idol, 
shaped  like  a  sugar  loaf  and  covered  with 
gold  leaf,  which  was  the  object  of  special 
veneration  on  the  part  of  the  populace  ; 
and  in  Brazil  have  been  found  similar  in- 
dications of  the  primitive  worship  of  the 
generative  powers. 

In  Polynesia  pillars  are  made  of  straw, 
a  custom  which  is  also  practised  in  India, 
especially  in  harvest  time,  when  pillars, 
and  human  figures  exhibiting  both  sexes 


88  SEX   WORSHIP. 

very  conspicuously,  are  made  and  set  up 
in  the  fields,  as  objects  of  adoration  and 
worship. 

In  ancient  times  stone  pillars  were 
erected  at  the  cross  roads,  at  boundaries, 
in  the  market-places,  before  the  doors  of 
houses,  and  in  the  temples  and  churches, 
as  the  presence  of  this  holy  emblem  was 
supposed  to  consecrate  the  place  in  which 
it  stood,  and  to  guard  it  against  evil 
spirits.  For  a  similar  reason  stone  pillars 
and  shafts  (symbols  of  the  guardian  Crea- 
tor) were  placed  upon  graves, —  a  practice 
that  has  been  retained  to  this  day  in  the 
civilized  world  ;  for  do  we  not  continue 
to  mark  the  resting-places  of  our  departed 
ones  with  monuments  and  columns  and 
other  upright  stones? 

We  have  ample  proof  in  the  Bible  that 
the  pillar  was  regarded  as  a  sacred  em- 
blem of  the  Creator,  for  it  will  be  remem- 
bered that  the  setting  up  of  a  pillar  as  a 
witness  to  the  Lord  was  a  common  prac- 
tice among  the  Hebrews,  and  that  it  was 
always  an  occasion  of  reverential  cere- 


PHALLIC   EMBLEMS.  89 

monies.  "  In  that  day  there  shall  be  an 
altar  to  the  Lord  in  the  midst  of  the  land 
of  Egypt,  and  a  pillar  at  the  border  there- 
of to  the  Lord  ;  and  it  shall  be  for  a  sign 
and  for  a  witness  unto  the  Lord."  (Isaiah 
19  :  19.) 

Those  acquainted  with  the  Old  Testa- 
ment cannot  but  be  impressed  with  the 
sacredness  attached  to  pillars,  and  the  nu- 
merous instances  in  which  they  are  men- 
tioned in  connection  with  the  Lord,  either 
as  emblems  of  the  Creator  or  as  witnesses 
to  him.  They  are  frequently  referred  to 
as  altars  and  rocks,  which,  as  will  pres- 
ently be  shown,  are  but  modified  forms 
of  the  pillar,  and  equally  significant. 

Jacob  set  up  a  pillar,  and  poured  oil 
upon  it,  calling  the  place  Bethel — the 
house  of  God  :  "And  this  stone,  which  I 
have  set  for  a  pillar,  shall  be  God's  house." 
(Gen.  28  :  18-22.)  When  his  wife,  Rachel, 
died,  he  placed  a  pillar  on  her  grave,  in 
accordance  with  the  custom  previously 
mentioned  ;  and  on  another  occasion,  as 
we  are  told  in  Genesis  35  :  14,  he  set  up  a 


90  SEX  WORSHIP. 

pillar  in  testimony  of  God,  "  and  he  poured 
a  drink-offering  thereon,  and  he  poured 
oil  thereon."  This  was  a  common  method 
of  anointing  the  phallus,  and  was  prac- 
tised by  the  people  of  all  nations,  when 
making  offerings  to  the  creative  deity, 
who  was  frequently  supposed  to  actually 
reside  in  the  pillar  itself ;  hence,  the  sig- 
nificance of  the  term  Bethel,  as  applied  to 
this  symbol. 

We  find,  also,  that  Joshua,  when  about 
to  die,  took  a  great  stone  and  set  it  up 
under  an  oak  that  was  near  the  sanctuary 
of  the  Lord.  "  And  Joshua  said  unto  all 
the  people,  Behold,  this  stone  shall  be  a 
witness  unto  us  ;  for  it  hath  heard  all  the 
words  of  the  Lord  which  he  spake  unto 
us  :  it  shall  be  therefore  a  witness  unto 
you,  lest  ye  deny  your  God."  (Joshua 
24:  27.) 

The  Lord  looked  upon  the  Egyptians 
through  a  pillar  of  fire  ;  he  led  the  Israel- 
ites by  pillars  of  cloud  and  fire,  and  he 
appeared  to  them  in  the  form  of  a  pillar 
— records  that  are  all  illustrative  of  the 


PHALLIC    EMBLEMS.  9! 

divine  significance  of  this  emblem.  "  And 
it  came  to  pass,  as  Moses  entered  into  the 
tabernacle,  the  cloudy  pillar  descended, 
and  stood  at  the  door  of  the  tabernacle, 
and  the  Lord  talked  with  Moses.  And 
all  the  people  saw  the  cloudy  pillar  stand 
at  the  tabernacle  door  ;  and  all  the  people 
rose  up  and  worshiped,  every  man  in  his 
tent  door."  (Ex.  33  :  9,  10.) 

As  the  vast  majority  of  pillars  were 
made  of  stone,  or  consisted  simply  of  un- 
hewn rocks  set  up  on  end,  it  is  not  diffi- 
cult to  perceive  how  the  rock  and  the 
pillar  became  interchangeable  terms  ;  the 
one  as  symbolical  and  significant  as  the 
other.  By  an  extension  of  the  analogy, 
mere  stones,  without  any  particular  like- 
ness to  pillars,  became  emblematical  of 
the  Creator,  especially  when  piled  in  a 
heap  ;  such  stone  heaps  being  a  very  com- 
mon form  of  the  phallic  symbol.  In  the 
thirty-first  chapter  of  Genesis  we  read, 
that  "  Jacob  took  a  stone  and  set  it  up 
for  a  pillar,  and  Jacob  said  unto  his 
brethren,  Gather  stones ;  and  they  took 


92  SEX   WORSHIP. 

stones  and  made  an  heap.  And  Laban 
said  to  Jacob,  Behold  this  heap,  and  be- 
hold this  pillar.  This  heap  be  a  witness 
and  this  pillar  be  a  witness,"  etc. 

Not  only  were  these  emblems  recog- 
nized and  employed  as  significant  of  the 
Creator,  but  the  Lord  himself  is  frequently 
alluded  to  as  a  Rock,  showing  conclu- 
sively the  sacred  meaning  attached  to  this 
symbol. 

David  very  often  refers  to  God  under 
the  title  of  Rock :  "  The  Rock  of  Israel 
spake  to  me  "  (2  Sam.  23  :  3).  "  The 
Lord  is  my  rock  "  (Ps.  18:2).  "  For  who 
is  God  save  the  Lord  ?  And  who  is  a 
rock  save  our  God ?"  (Ps.  18:31).  "Unto 
Thee  will  I  cry,  O  Lord  my  rock !  "  (Ps. 
28  :  i). 

Moses,  too,  several  times  uses  this  em- 
blematical term  when  referring  to  the 
Lord  ;  its  phallic  significance  being  espe- 
cially clear,  when  he  says,  "  Of  the  Rock 
that  begat  thee  thou  art  unmindful,  and 
hast  forgotten  God  that  formed  thee " 
(Deut.  32:  1 8).  Equally  clear  is  the  ex- 


PHALLIC   EMBLEMS.  93 

pression  of  Hannah,  who,  in  her  song  of 
thanksgiving  to  the  Lord  for  having  given 
her  a  child,  says:  "Neither  is  there  any 
rock  like  our  God  "  (I  Sam.  2  :  2). 

In  many  instances  the  Hebrew  word 
for  rock  is  translated  strength,  mighty  one, 
or  God  ;  as  we  find,  for  example,  in  Isaiah 
26  :  4  :  "  Trust  ye  the  Lord  forever  :  for 
in  the  Lord  Jehovah  is  everlasting 
strength"  which,  if  properly  translated, 
would  read,  the  rock  of  ages.* 

While,  on  the  one  hand,  the  rock  was  a 
simplification  of  the  pillar,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  altar  was  an  elaboration  of  this 
symbol ;  a  change  that  resulted  from  the 
practice  of  making  offerings  to  the  phallus 
or  pillar.  In  the  desire  to  place  the  offer- 
ings upon  the  sacred  symbol,  its  form  was 
gradually  modified  so  as  to  better  accom- 
modate them,  and  the  result  was  the 
altar  ;  an  object  still  regarded  with  holy 
reverence,  and  still  forming  the  principal 
feature  of  every  shrine  and  place  of  wor- 
ship. 

*  See  Isaiah  30  :  29 ;  44 :  8 ;     Hab.  I  :  2. 


94  SEX   WORSHIP. 

As  in  the  case  of  the  altar,  so  the  pil- 
lar became  modified  in  various  other  ways, 
one  of  which  resulted  in  giving  to  the/0& 
a  sacred  and  phallic  significance.  In  fact, 
our  word  pole  is  derived  from  phallus, 
which  is  itself  a  derivative  of  the  Pheni- 
cian  word  meaning  "  he  breaks  through 
or  passes  into."  The  modern  Maypole 
festivities  are  simply  a  continuation  of 
some  ancient  phallic  celebration,  in  which 
the  pole,  as  a  symbol  of  the  reproductive 
powers,  was  decorated  with  flowers,  while 
the  worshipers  danced  about  it,  singing 
songs  of  joy  and  praise. 

The  principal  outgrowth  of  the  pillar 
was  the  tower.  In  truth,  this  symbol  was 
but  a  further  enlargement  and  elaboration 
of  the  phallus  image.  In  addition  to  con- 
secrating a  temple  of  worship  by  placing 
within  it  a  symbol  of  the  Deity,  the  tem- 
ple itself  was  built  in  the  shape  of  the 
symbol,  as  far  as  possible,  and  this  resulted 
in  the  erection  of  towers;  remains  of 
which  are  still  to  be  seen  in  various  parts 
of  the  world,  especially  in  Great  Britain. 


PHALLIC   EMBLEMS.  9$ 

They  were  built  of  stone,  and,  because  of 
their  circular  shape,  are  to-day  known  as 
"  Round  Towers,"  the  most  noteworthy 
examples  of  which  are  those  found  in  Ire- 
land, where  these  ancient  phallic  struct- 
ures abound  in  great  numbers,  having 
been  built  by  sex-worshiping  refugees  from 
ancient  Persia.  These  towers  vary  in 
height  from  fifty  to  one  hundred  and  fifty 
feet,  measuring  about  fourteen  feet  in 
diameter  at  the  base,  and  decreasing  grad- 
ually toward  the  top.  Some  are  sur- 
mounted with  a  conical-shaped  roof,  while 
others  terminate  in  a  point,  and  thus  re- 
semble huge  steeples  standing  alone.  But 
in  all  their  variety  of  forms,  the  sugges- 
tiveness  of  their  design  is  always  appar- 
ent. 

We  have  every  evidence  that  such  phal- 
lic towers  were  common  in  all  parts  of  the 
ancient  world  ;  but  in  course  of  time  these 
necessarily  circumscribed  edifices  gave 
place  to  more  commodious  forms  of  archi- 
tecture, though  the  tower,  in  some  one  of 
its  various  forms,  was  always  retained  as 


96  SEX   WORSHIP. 

the  principal  and  consecratory  feature  of 
a  religious  building  ;  and  to  this  day, 
throughout  all  Christendom,  the  houses 
of  religious  worship  are  distinguished  in 
this  manner. 

A  church  is  not  considered  complete 
without  its  steeple  or  tower,  but  little  is 
it  realized  that  this  important  and  distin- 
guishing feature  of  church  architecture  is 
a  relic  of  the  primitive  symbol  of  the  Crea- 
tor, and  that  its  original  function  was  to 
hallow  the  place  in  which  the  deity  of 
procreation  was  worshiped.  In  no  ancient 
city  could  the  phallic  symbols  of  the  Al- 
mighty have  been  more  prominently  and 
widely  displayed  than  they  are  to-day  in 
every  Christian  town,  with  its  multitude 
of  lofty  steeples  and  spires  towering  above 
the  housetops  in  glorious,  though  uncon- 
scious, symbolization  of  the  Creator. 

Many  other  artificial  and  conventional 
emblems  used  in  ancient  times  for  the  rep- 
resentation of  the  procreative  deity  might 
be  cited — as  the  arrow,  the  shepherd's 
crook,  the  three-pointed  wand,  which  has 


PHALLIC   EMBLEMS.  97 

become  the  fleur-de-lis  of  modern  times, 
and  a  great  many  more  ; — but  they  are  of 
minor  importance  compared  with  the  pil- 
lar and  the  tower,  and  with  the  numerous 
natural  objects  that  were  chosen  as  phallic 
symbols,  by  reason  of  some  supposed  re- 
semblance or  relation  to  the  phallus,  in 
its  looks,  character  or  attributes.  Thus, 
any  high  rock,  or  mount,  or  other  tower- 
ing elevation,  was  vested  with  sacred  sig- 
nificance, and  ancient  history  abounds 
with  references  to  "  holy  mounts,"  or 
"  mounts  of  God." 

Trees,  too,  were  regarded  as  sacred  em- 
blems of  the  Creator  and  his  attributes. 
Some,  like  the  pine  and  the  fir,  because  of 
their straightness and  uprightness;  others, 
like  the  oak,  because  of  their  strength  and 
vitality  ;  and  others,  again,  like  the  fig  and 
the  palm,  because  of  the  shape  of  their 
leaves  or  the  venereal  effect  of  their  fruit. 
Hence,  we  find  that  tree  worship,  as  a  mode 
of  phallicism,  flourished  very  extensively 
in  the  early  history  of  the  world  ;  the  wor- 
ship of  the  oak  by  the  Druids  being  a  famil- 
7 


98  SEX   WORSHIP. 

iar  example,  and  all  early  records  contain 
allusions  to  certain  kinds  of  trees  and 
fruits  as  possessed  of  particular  religious 
or  phallic  significance. 

Various  animals  were  likewise  adopted 
as  suggestive  symbols  of  the  male  creative 
energy,  particularly  those  of  unusual  sex- 
ual power.  The  cock,  the  goat  and  the 
bull  figure  very  largely  in  phallic  worship, 
as  worthy  representatives  of  the  procre- 
ative  god  ;  the  goat  and  the  bull  being  es- 
pecially sacred  to  the  Egyptians,  who 
looked  upon  these  animals  as  not  only  the 
living  symbols  of  Osiris,  the  Creator,  but  as 
his  actual  incarnations,  and  they  were  ac- 
cordingly treated  and  worshiped  as  veri- 
table deities.  The  sacred  bull,  as  an  incar- 
nation of  the  procreative  power  of  nature, 
is  a  feature  of  many  of  the  Hindoo 
temples,  where  the  animal  is  waited  upon 
and  adored  with  due  reverence  and  so- 
lemnity. 

The  goat  is,  perhaps,  the  most  salacious 
of  all  animals  ;  his  inexhaustible  appetite 
and  virility  enabling  him  to  mate  with  as 


PHALLIC   EMBLEMS.  99 

many  as  eighty  ewes  in  a  single  night. 
It  is,  therefore,  not  surprising  that  he 
should  have  been  chosen  as  a  specially 
sacred  symbol ;  such  extraordinary  abil- 
ities as  his  must  have  appealed  to  the 
impressible  mind  of  early  man  as  a  man- 
ifestation of  the  infinite  powers  of  the 
Supreme  Procreator  himself. 

This  animal  figured  very  prominently 
in  many  of  the  religious  celebrations,  and 
down  to  the  present  time  has  been  em- 
ployed in  the  initiation  ceremonies  of  se- 
cret orders,  as  he  was  in  the  mystic  rites  of 
the  ancient  Egyptians,  in  which  the  priests 
were  required  to  be  initiated  into  the  mys- 
teries of  the  Goat,  before  they  could  be 
admitted  to  the  divine  knowledge  of  Isis. 
These  mysteries  were  so  sacred,  and  so 
zealously  guarded  by  the  few  initiates, 
that  very  little  is  really  known  concerning 
them. 

The  Greeks  idealized  the  goat  in  their 
god  Pan  and  his  voluptuous  attendants, 
the  fauns  and  satyrs  ;  creatures  half  man 
and  half  goat.  Pan  was  the  patron  deity 


100  SEX   WORSHIP. 

of  sensual  pastimes,  and  representations  of 
him  depict  him  as  worthy  of  the  highest 
honor  on  this  score. 

The  dove  was  a  symbol  of  Bacchus,  in 
his  character  of  the  First  Begotten  of 
Love,  and  was  emblematic  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  or  divine  generative  power,  through 
which  he  came  into  being. 

Among  the  Hindoos  the  tortoise  is  an 
important  phallic  emblem.  This  animal 
was  probably  chosen  as  a  sacred  repre- 
sentative of  the  creative  deity  because  of 
its  fabled  androgyny, — an  attribute  of  the 
Creator  which  will  be  considered  in  an- 
other place, — and  because  of  its  great  fecun- 
dity and  tenacity  of  life.  Furthermore, 
the  frequency  and  rapidity  with  which  it 
protrudes  and  withdraws  its  head,  chang- 
ing from  an  appearance  of  repose  to  one 
of  energy  and  action,  as  well  as  the  shape 
of  its  head  and  neck  when  aroused,  readily 
suggested  to  the  imaginative  phallic-wor- 
shiper the  active  lingam,  or  masculine 
creative  symbol. 

Among  the  more  important  natural  em- 


PHALLIC   EMBLEMS,  IOI 

blems  adopted  by  the  Egyptians,  was  the 
river  Nile,  which  symbolized  the  outpour- 
ing, the  fertilizing  and  creative  force,  of 
Osiris  ;  and  its  waters  were  regarded  with 
the  same  holy  veneration  that  charac- 
terizes the  worship  of  the  river  Ganges  by 
the  people  of  India  to-day. 

The  worship  of  fire,  as  symbolical  of 
the  creative  energy,  was  also  extensively 
practised  ;  particularly  by  the  ancient 
Persians. 

But  foremost  of  all  natural  emblems  of 
the  creative  deity  was  the  sun  ;  nay,  the 
sun  was  the  Creator  himself,  the  Almighty 
God.  It  was  he  who  gave  light  and  life 
to  the  world  ;  upon  him  all  existence  de- 
pended. Osiris  dwelt  in  the  Sun  as  the 
omnipotent  Creator,  and  through  this  all- 
potent  medium  manifested  his  powers  to 
mankind.  The  supreme  god  of  each  of 
the  early  nations  was  closely  allied  with 
the  sun.  It  was  either  the  Deity  himself 
or  his  glorious  and  almighty  manifesta- 
tion. The  worship  of  the  sun,  therefore, 
necessarily  formed  a  part, — a  very  impor- 


102  SEX   WORSHIP. 

tant  and  significant  part, — of  phallic  wor- 
ship. 

In  the  adoration  of  the  sun,  as  the 
Creator  and  Preserver  of  mankind,  lies 
the  origin  of  a  universal  theological  be- 
lief,— a  belief  that  belongs  to  no  one  sect 
or  age  alone,  but  has  been  in  existence 
and  has  been  the  foundation  of  religious 
faiths  since  the  time  man  first  beheld  the 
wonders  of  the  universe,  and  watched 
with  anxious  and  reverential  solicitude 
the  annual  journey  of  the  Sun  ;  saw  with 
dismay  and  fear  the  world  grow  cold  and 
dead  in  the  absence  of  the  great  Life- 
giver,  in  the  winter  season,  and  welcomed 
with  joy  and  acclamations  of  praise  the 
renewal  and  the  resurrection  of  life,  as  the 
Sun,  the  Almighty  Father  and  Savior, 
appeared  again  in  the  glory  and  radiance 
of  his  power. 


CHAPTER  V. 

SEXUAL  SACRIFICES. 

WHILE  the  world  at  large  has  always 
regarded  sexual  power  or  virility  as  a 
divine  gift,  to  be  cherished  and  exercised 
in  accordance  with  its  sacred  and  mys- 
terious purpose,  and  has  looked  upon  the 
act  of  generation  as  not  only  proper  and 
necessary,  but  as  a  holy  and  divinely  or- 
dained function  for  the  accomplishment 
of  the  supreme  purpose  of  life,  there  has 
always  been  in  human  society  a  small  but 
powerful  religious  element  that  insists 
upon  an  abnegation  of  the  sexual  nature, 
as  the  only  true  condition  for  a  proper 
communion  with  God. 

Hence,  we  find  in  all  times  and  among 
all  peoples  certain  religious  cults  whose 
priests  or  leaders  are  required  to  abstain 
from  all  sexual  affairs.  Among  the  an- 
cients this  rule  was  not  confined  to  mere 
103 


104  SEX   WORSHIP. 

continence  or  celibacy,  but  was  often  ex- 
tended to  actual  emasculation  of  the 
priests  ;  a  custom  that  attained  its  greatest 
prominence  in  Phrygia,  an  ancient  prov- 
ince of  Asia  Minor,  because  of  the  ex- 
traordinary ceremonies  there  attendant 
upon  the  act  of  castration. 

These  ceremonies  formed  a  part  of  the 
annual  celebration  of  the  festival  of  Attis 
and  Cybele  ;  the  latter  being  the  earth 
goddess,  or  mother  deity,  who  fell  in  love 
with  the  beautiful  youth,  Attis,  of  whom 
she  exacted  a  vow  of  chastity  as  her 
priest,  but  who,  having  broken  his  vow 
for  the  sake  of  a  lovely  nymph,  was  de- 
prived by  the  goddess  of  his  reason,  and 
in  his  frenzy  he  castrated  himself ;  where- 
upon the  goddess  ordained  that  there- 
after all  her  priests  should  be  eunuchs. 

In  commemoration  of  this  legend,  there 
was  held  each  year,  in  the  springtime,  a 
wild  and  noisy  though  at  the  same  time 
sacred  and  solemn  festival.  It  began  in 
quiet  and  sorrow  for  the  death-like  sleep 
of  Attis.  On  the  third  day  joy  broke 


SEXUAL  SACRIFICES.  10$ 

forth  and  was  manifested  by  delirious  hi- 
larity. The  frenzied  priests  of  Cybele 
rushed  about  in  bands,  with  haggard  eyes 
and  disheveled  hair,  like  drunken  revelers 
and  insane  women.  In  one  hand  they 
carried  burning  fire-brands,  and  in  the 
other  they  brandished  the  sacred  knife. 
They  dashed  into  the  woods  and  valleys 
and  climbed  the  mountain  heights,  keep- 
ing up  a  horrible  noise  and  continual 
groaning.  An  intoxicating  drink  rendered 
them  wild.  They  beat  each  other  with 
the  chains  they  carried,  and  when  they 
drew  blood  upon  their  companions  or 
themselves  they  danced  with  wild  and 
tumultuous  gesticulations,  flogging  their 
backs  and  piercing  their  limbs  and  even 
their  bodies.  Finally,  in  honor  of  their 
goddess,  they  turned  the  -sacred  knife 
upon  their  genitals,  and,  calling  upon 
their  deity,  showed  their  gaping  wounds, 
and  offered  her  the  spoils  of  their  de- 
stroyed virility.  After  recovering  from 
this  self-inflicted  emasculation,  these  ini- 
tiates adopted  woman's  dress,  and  were 


106  SEX  WORSHIP. 

then  ready  to  become  priests,  or,  failing  in 
that,  to  take  their  place  among  the  attend- 
ants of  the  temple,  to  engage  in  pederasty 
for  the  benefit  of  the  temple  treasury, 
whenever  the  patrons  might  prefer  such 
indulgence  to  that  afforded  by  the  conse- 
crated women. 

The  motive  for  sexual  sacrifices  of  this 
kind  is  probably  to  be  found  in  the  desire 
to  resemble  the  Deity  in  his  androgynous 
character.  As  will  be  shown,  there  were 
numerous  religious  faiths  in  which  it  was 
held  that  the  creative  deity  combined  in 
himself  both  the  male  and  female  princi- 
ples, and  as  the  ultimate  aim  of  the  priest- 
hood has  ever  been  to  attain  to  a  resem- 
blance to  or  a  union  with  God,  it  is  but 
reasonable  that  such  a  method  should 
have  been  adopted  by  certain  sects.  A 
castrated  priest  was  neither  man  nor  wo- 
man ;  and  yet,  paradoxically,  he  was  both. 
In  form  and  figure  he  represented  the 
male  principle,  while  in  dress  and  in  the 
absence  of  the  active  masculine  functions, 
he  represented  the  female. 


SEXUAL  SACRIFICES.  107 

In  some  instances,  however,  and  par- 
ticularly in  later  times,  this  motive  gave 
place  to  one  of  another  character,  and 
this  was  the  desire  to  please  and  propiti- 
ate the  Almighty  by  sacrificing  the  great- 
est of  human  blessings  and  pleasures,  in 
accordance  with  the  old  and  widespread 
belief,  that  God  is  always  best  pleased 
when  his  creatures  are  most  miserable ; 
hence,  the  greater  the  sacrifice,  the  greater 
the  pleasure  afforded  him. 

Castration  is  practised  by  many  relig- 
ious fanatics  even  at  the  present  day,  and 
is  prescribed  as  a  fundamental  tenet  of  a 
certain  sect  of  Christians  in  Russia,  who 
hold  that  the  millennium  will  not  arrive 
until  all  the  men  of  the  world  are  castrated. 
Consequently,  this  sect  is  composed  en- 
tirely of  self-made  eunuchs,  and  hun- 
dreds of  converts  annually  butcher  them- 
selves in  this  manner.  Their  authority 
for  this  practice  is  found  in  the  twelfth 
verse  of  the  nineteenth  chapter  of  Mat- 
thew, wherein  Christ  says  unto  his  disci- 
ples, "  There  are  some  eunuchs  which 


108  SEX  WORSHIP. 

were  so  born  from  their  mother's  womb  ; 
and  there  are  some  eunuchs  which  were 
made  eunuchs  of  men  ;  and  there  be 
eunuchs  which  have  made  themselves 
eunuchs  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven's 
sake." 

In  the  history  of  Christianity  this  pas- 
sage has  not  infrequently  been  the  incit- 
ing cause  of  sexual  sacrifices,  but  the  chief 
motive  for  sacrifices  of  this  nature  has 
been  the  endeavor  to  give  up  all  worldly 
delights  and  vain  enjoyments,  as  incom- 
patible with  a  proper  worship  of  God. 
Hence,  the  struggles  of  the  early  Chris- 
tian devotees,  and  of  the  many  who  have 
followed  in  their  footsteps  down  to  the 
present  day,  to  resist  the  promptings  of 
the  flesh,  in  order  to  attain  to  a  pure, 
spiritual  communion  with  God. 

This  did  not  necessarily  imply  castra- 
tion ;  yet  there  were  many  (among  whom 
was  Origen,  one  of  the  most  famous  of 
the  early  fathers)  who  resorted  to  it  as 
the  only  means  of  successfully  subduing 
the  temptations  of  the  devil.  The  ma- 


SEXUAL  SACRIFICES.  109 

jority  sought  to  accomplish  their  purpose 
by  taking  vows  of  absolute  continence  ; 
and  the  greater  the  struggles  they  en- 
dured, the  greater  was  their  triumph  and 
spiritual  satisfaction.  That  the  faithful 
did  suffer  by  thus  absolutely  abstaining 
from  the  gratification  of  their  natural 
desires  and  appetites,  is  well  attested  by 
history  and  by  the  well-known  physiologi- 
cal fact,  that  absolute  continence  is  often 
attended  with  mental  and  physical  de- 
rangements as  painful  and  as  disastrous 
as  those  resulting  from  the  most  intem- 
perate indulgence. 

This  mode  of  sexual  sacrifice,  in  its 
modified  form  of  celibacy,  as  a  sacerdotal 
requirement,  still  constitutes  a  promi- 
nent feature  of  the  tenets  and  church 
government  of  a  large  part  of  the  Chris- 
tian world. 

Sexual  offerings  to  the  deities  were  not 
confined  alone  to  masculine  devotees,  for 
it  was  a  common  religious  ordinance  in 
many  of  the  ancient  nations,  that  every 
woman  should  sexually  sacrifice  herself  to 


IIO  SEX   WORSHIP. 

the  gods;  not,  however,  by  any  act  of 
mutilation,  but  by  permitting  herself  to 
be  embraced  by  a  patron  of  the  temple. 

Whenever  a  woman  desired  to  perform 
this  religious  duty  she  repaired  to  the 
temple,  and  placed  herself  under  a  sus- 
pended branch  of  mistletoe,  which  was 
the  customary  mode  of  indicating  that 
she  was  at  the  service  of  the  first  stranger 
who  desired  to  take  advantage  of  the 
opportunity  ;  a  custom  which,  in  its 
modified  form  of  kissing  under  the  mistle- 
toe, is  retained  to  this  day,  and  is  familiar 
to  all  of  us  as  a  feature  of  Christmas 
festivities. 

The  temple  of  Mylitta,  at  Babylon, 
was  particularly  noted  for  the  sacrifices 
of  this  kind  that  were  made  there,  and 
the  following  account  of  the  manner  in 
which  the  rites  were  conducted  is  taken 
from  the  description  given  by  Herod- 
otus: 

"  Every  native-born  woman  is  obliged 
at  sometime  in  her  life  to  go  to  the  Tem- 
ple of  Mylitta  and  submit  her  person  to 


SEXUAL  SACRIFICES.  Ill 

the  embraces  of  a  strange  man.  Many 
of  the  more  wealthy,  who  disdain  to  be 
confounded  with  the  commonalty,  have 
themselves  carried  to  the  temple  in 
covered  chairs.  There  they  keep  their 
seats  with  a  following  of  many  domestics 
who  have  accompanied  them.  But  the 
majority  of  the  women,  who  wear  on 
their  heads  a  circlet  made  of  cord,  settle 
themselves  in  a  certain  part  of  the  grounds 
that  pertain  to  the  temple.  There  is  a 
constant  stream  of  women  arriving  and 
departing.  The  men  strangers  walk  up 
and  down  the  passageways  formed  by 
stretched  ropes,  and  pick  out  the  women 
who  best  please  them.  A  woman  .having 
once  entered  cannot  return  home  until  a 
man,  with  whom  she  has  had  no  carnal 
intercourse  before,  kneels  and  throws  to 
her  a  piece  of  silver,  exclaiming  as  he 
does  so,  '  I  invoke  the  goddess  Mylitta  ! ' — 
this  being  the  Assyrian  name  for  Venus  ; 
— and,  however  trifling  the  sum  thrown 
to  her  may  be,  its  refusal  would  be  un- 
lawful, because  the  silver  so  offered  be- 


112  SEX   WORSHIP. 

comes  sacred,  and  is  applied  to  religious 
purposes.  The  woman  is  obliged,  there- 
fore, to  follow  him,  and  the  two  repair  at 
once  to  one  of  the  semi-secluded  alcoves 
of  the  temple  designed  for  the  purpose  in 
view.  At  length,  having  performed  her 
duty  to  the  goddess,  she  returns  home, 
and  cannot  be  again  subjected  to  the  or- 
deal, whatever  may  be  the  sum  of  money 
offered  her.  Those  who  are  fortunate 
enough  to  be  pretty  or  elegantly  dressed 
do  not  remain  long  in  the  temple.  The 
homely  and  otherwise  less-favored  must 
stay  longer,  because  they  are  not  able  to 
so  readily  fulfill  their  mission,  and  for 
this  reason  some  have  been  obliged  to 
dwell  there  for  three  or  four  years." 

This  practice  resembled  that  of  the  con- 
secrated prostitution  so  common  among 
phallic-worshiping  people,  in  the  fact 
that  sexual  union  under  these  divine 
auspices  was  considered  both  proper  and 
holy,  but  its  object  was,  of  course,  dif- 
ferent from  that  which  governed  the 
profession  of  the  women  of  the  temple. 


SEXUAL  SACRIFICES.  113 

In  the  vast  majority  of  cases,  the  women 
who  thus  presented  themselves  at  the 
temples  were  maidens,  whose  purpose  it 
was  to  sacrifice  their  virginity  to  the 
patron  deity. 

From  time  immemorial  virginity  has 
been  regarded  as  divinely  sacred,  and 
has  universally  been  looked  upon  as  be- 
longing exclusively  to  the  gods.  This 
belief  was  so  strongly  implanted  in  the 
minds  of  the  ancient  Romans,  that  their 
law  would  not  permit  a  virgin  to  be  exe- 
cuted in  the  ordinary  manner.  No  mat- 
ter what  the  enormity  of  her  guilt,  the 
woman,  if  a  virgin,  could  not  be  subjected 
to  the  penalty  of  death  by  violent  hands. 
By  reason  of  her  virginity  she  was  the 
property  of  the  gods;  she  contained  with- 
in her  the  spiritual  presence  of  the  Deity  ; 
and,  hence,  before  inflicting  the  last  pen- 
alty, it  was  the  duty  of  the  executioner 
to  remove  the  god  from  her  ;  and  for  this 
purpose  he  was  obliged,  as  a  part  of  his 
office,  to  deflower  her ;  after  which  she 
was  strangled  or  burned. 


114  SEX   WORSHIP. 

This  idea  of  the  holiness  of  maidenhood 
led  to  the  adoption  of  religious  precepts 
requiring  that  virginity  should  be  given  to 
God,  and  to  this  day  such  sacrifices  are 
made  by  many  Christian  women,  who 
take  solemn  vows  of  chastity,  and  confine 
themselves  in  convents,  for  the  purpose 
of  giving  up  their  lives  and  their  virginity 
to  the  Almighty. 

Among  the  ancients,  however,  life-long 
continence  was  not  regarded  as  a  necessary 
means  for  the  sacrifice  of  virginity.  The 
religious  duty  of  women  to  bear  children 
would  not  in  those  days  have  permitted 
such  a  custom.  To  them  it  was  sufficient 
that  the  first  sexual  act  of  a  woman  should 
be  given  to  her  deity ;  that  the  act  by  which 
she  gave  up  her  divine  virginity  should  be 
dedicated  to  the  god  or  goddess  of  her  re- 
ligion. This  was  sometimes  done  in  the 
manner  as  described  by  Herodotus,  but 
among  other  peoples  it  was  deemed  essen- 
tial that  the  sacrifice  should  be  made 
through  a  holy  representative  of  the  deity, 
or  by  means  of  his  consecrated  image. 


SEXUAL  SACRIFICES.  11$ 

Accordingly,  we  find  that  in  some  cases 
it  was  customary  for  women  to  give  up 
their  virginity  to  the  priests  of  the  tem- 
ples, while  others  offered  their  maiden- 
hood to  an  image  of  the  Creator.  This 
latter  mode  was  common  in  Rome,  where 
the  marriage  laws  required  that,  before 
the  nuptials  could  be  consummated,  the 
bride  must  sacrifice  her  virginity  to  Pria- 
pus.  It  was  usual,  therefore,  immediately 
after  the  conclusion  of  the  wedding  cere- 
monies, for  the  bride  and  her  husband,  at- 
tended by  the  parents  and  friends,  to  re- 
pair to  a  statue  of  Priapus,  and  there,  in 
the  presence  of  her  husband  and  the  as- 
sembled company,  take  her  first  lesson 
in  practical  priapic  worship,  by  means  of 
the  iron  or  stone  phallus  of  the  sacred 
image. 

This  rite  was  a  solemnly  religious  one. 
The  bride  was  thus  brought  to  the  pria- 
pic statue  immediately  after  the  wedding, 
in  order  not  only  that  she  should  give  to 
the  god  his  due,  but  that  she  might  be 
rendered  fruitful  by  contact  with  the  di- 


Il6  SEX   WORSHIP. 

vine  generator,  and  be  capable  of  faith- 
fully and  well  performing  all  the  duties  of 
her  untried  situation  as  a  wife.  The  cere- 
mony was  accompanied  with  an  offering 
of  flowers  and  libations  of  wine,  and  with 
prayers  to  the  god  for  matrimonial  and 
maternal  blessings. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE   FEMALE    PRINCIPLE. 

A  FAR  greater  importance  has  always 
been  attached  to  the  male  than  to  the  fe- 
male principle  of  creation.  The  Creator 
always  was  and  ever  has  been  regarded  as 
masculine.  The  supreme  deity  of  every 
theology  is  a  male.  This  is  due  to  the 
fact  that  the  part  played  by  the  woman 
in  the  phenomenon  of  procreation  is  not 
only  passive  and  receptive,  but  was  for  a 
long  time  regarded  as  merely  functional. 
The  woman  was  simply  the  man's  chattel, 
whose  only  purpose  was  to  bear  him  his 
children.  That  she  contributed  toward 
the  production  of  the  offspring  by  any 
creative  power  of  her  own  was  not  appre- 
ciated. Only  the  masculine — the  active 
— element  was  recognized  in  the  act  of 

procreation ;  it  alone  was  the  generator. 
117 


Il8  SEX   WORSHIP. 

The  female  element  was  naught  but  that 
of  a  passive  producer  and  bearer  of  what 
the  male  created. 

But  in  time  mankind  awoke  to  a  realiza- 
tion of  the  fact  that  the  female  element 
plays  an  important  and  essential  part  in 
the  reproduction  of  life  ;  that  not  only  is 
the  union  of  the  sexes  necessary  for  pro- 
creation, but  that  the  production  of  the 
offspring  depends  upon  the  co-operation 
and  reciprocal  activity  of  both  elements, 
and  hence  the  female  principle  of  nature, 
instead  of  being  considered  simply  as  a 
passive  medium,  was  exalted  and  wor- 
shiped as  a  potent  factor  in  the  mystery 
of  creation  and  reproduction. 

In  fact,  there  were  some  among  the 
early  people  of  the  world  who  carried  this 
worship  to  an  extreme,  holding  that  the 
female  creative  power  was  superior  to 
that  of  the  male,  and  that  the  feminine 
generative  organs  were  the  true  symbol 
of  the  creative  deity.  This  gave  rise  to 
two  great  religious  factions:  the  worshipers 
of  the  female  symbol,  the  yoni,  and  the 


THE  FEMALE  PRINCIPLE.  1 19 

worshipers  of  the  phallus  or  lingam.  In 
the  very  oldest  records  of  the  world  there 
are  certain  vague  allusions  here  and  there 
to  great  religious  wars  of  prehistoric 
times — wars  between  the  Yonites  and  the 
Lingamites ;  wars  that  were  more  terrible 
and  destructive  than  any  that  have  shaken 
the  world  in  later  times  and  whose  fun- 
damental issue  was  never  settled,  but  has 
descended  from  age  to  age  and  from  gen- 
eration to  generation,  even  unto  this  day, 
where  we  find  man  still  fighting  and  ready 
to  fight,  to  prove  that  his  god  is  the  only 
true  god. 

Our  earliest  records  and  traditions  indi- 
cate, however,  that  a  reconciliatory  wor- 
ship of  both  the  male  and  female  prin- 
ciples had  become  general  thousands  of 
years  ago  ;  for  we  find  in  all  religions  a 
reverential  recognition  of  the  necessity 
of  female  co-operation  in  the  production 
of  life.  Although  the  Creator,  the  Su- 
preme God,  is  always  represented  as 
masculine  and  omnipotent,  it  is  also  true 
that  in  no  theological  account  of  the 


120  SEX   WORSHIP. 

genesis  of  the  world  is  it  held  that  the 
Creator  brought  life  into  existence  with- 
out the  assistance  of  the  feminine  ele- 
ment. In  some  of  the  old  theologies,  as 
the  Greek  and  Egyptian,  for  example,  the 
Creator  is  represented  with  a  consort,  a 
celestial  wife,  who  was  worshiped  as  next 
in  rank  to  the  Creator  himself. 

Again,  as  in  the  case  of  Brahma,  the  su- 
preme god  of  the  Hindoos,  he  is  repre- 
sented as  androgynous  ;  that  is,  uniting 
both  sexes  in  one,  and  being  thus  capable 
of  sexual  union  within  himself.  This 
idea  of  an  androgynous  deity  is  a  very 
common  one  in  the  ancient  faiths,  as  well 
as  among  the  Hindoos  of  to-day,  and 
there  are  found  frequent  realistic  repre- 
sentations of  deities  possessed  of  the  or- 
gans of  both  sexes,  or  showing  a  beard 
on  the  face  of  a  goddess,  as  may  be  seen 
in  some  of  the  pictures  of  Venus.  Por- 
trayals of  the  androgynal  deity  are  fre- 
quent on  the  temples  of  India,  and  many 
of  the  figures  are  most  elaborately  de- 
signed, in  an  attempt  to  both  truly  and 


THE  FEMALE  PRINCIPLE.  121 

symbolically  represent  the  divine  duality 
of  the  Creator. 

In  one  of  the  sacred  books  of  the  Hin- 
doos we  are  told,  that  "  the  Supreme 
Spirit  in  the  act  of  creation  became  two- 
fold ;  the  right  side  was  male,  the  left 
side  female."  The  principal  symbol  in 
representation  of  this  double-sex  divinity 
is  one  of  a  figure  made  up  of  male  and 
female  parts,  but  so  embellished  with  mys- 
tical designs  and  symbolical  details  as  to 
be  beyond  the  comprehension  of  the  aver- 
age mind  ;  which,  indeed,  is  the  very  pur- 
pose of  this  sacred  symbol  ;  for,  as  the 
Hindoos  say,  "  When  one  can  interpret 
this  emblem  of  the  androgynous  divinity 
he  knows  all  that  is  known." 

In  other  theologies,  while  there  is  lack- 
ing a  feminine  consort,  or  a  creator  pos- 
sessed of  both  sexes,  it  is  recorded  that 
life  was  brought  into  existence  by  the 
divine  impregnation  of  the  earth  or  the 
waters,  which  is  virtually  a  union  of  the 
two  elements ;  for,  as  will  be  shown  here- 
after, both  the  earth  and  the  waters  have 


122  SEX   WORSHIP. 

always  been  regarded  as  feminine  and  as 
symbols  of  the  female  creative  function. 
In  the  Mosaic  account  of  genesis  we  read, 
that  "  the  spirit  of  the  Lord  moved  upon 
the  face  of  the  waters ; "  which  means, 
literally,  that  the  Creator  impregnated 
the  waters,  or  the  female  element  of 
nature. 

In  short,  the  human  mind  could  not 
conceive  of  creation  or  reproduction  with- 
out the  employment  of  both  the  male  and 
female  elements,  notwithstanding  that  the 
true  importance  of  the  latter  was  some- 
times almost  entirely  ignored,  and  was 
worshiped  to  a  much  less  extent  than  the 
former. 

That  life  could  be  produced  without 
the  congress  of  the  two  sexes,  was  never 
believed,  for  we  see  that  the  Almighty 
and  Supreme  God  could  not  himself  ac- 
complish it.  This  conviction  is  further 
illustrated  in  the  various  legends  concern- 
ing the  birth  of  a  god  by  a  virgin.  In  all 
of  the  theologies  containing  this  feature 
(and  there  are  none  that  do  not),  it  is 


THE  FEMALE  PRINCIPLE.  123 

taught  that  the  Supreme  Father  had 
actual,  material  knowledge  of  the  virgin  ; 
it  is  not  held  that  she  conceived  without 
contact  with  the  masculine  element.  This, 
according  to  universal  belief,  would  have 
been  impossible,  in  spite  of  the  omnipo- 
tence of  the  Deity,  because  of  its  opposi- 
tion to  nature  and  to  God. 

Whatever  may  be  the  spiritual  idea  at 
the  present  time  regarding  the  immaculate 
impregnation  of  the  Virgin  of  Christianity, 
it  is  certain,  according  to  statements  in 
the  Bible,  that  neither  Joseph  nor  Mary, 
nor,  in  fact,  the  writers  of  the  gospels 
themselves,  ever  supposed  that  a  woman 
could  conceive  without  direct  masculine 
assistance.  That  this  idea  was  held  in  the 
church  for  centuries  afterwards,  is  realisti- 
cally demonstrated  by  the  picture  of  the 
"  Rosary  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,"  printed 
by  authority  of  the  Church,  at  Venice,  in 
1 542.  This  represents  the  Virgin  kneeling 
before  an  altar,  with  her  arms  and  eyes 
upraised  to  heaven,  where  she  beholds  a 
radiant  throng  of  cherubim  with  the  Holy 


124  SEX  WORSHIP. 

Dove  in  their  midst,  while  a  potent  ray  of 
light  descends  and  enters  her  person,  on 
the  front  of  which  is  a  picture  of  the  di- 
vinely and  miraculously  conceived  Christ- 
child. 

The  holiness  and  wonder  of  the  birth 
of  a  son  by  a  virgin  lay  not  in  the  fact 
that  a  virgin  conceived,  but  that  she  con- 
ceived through  the  divine  impregnation 
of  God  ;  that  the  Almighty  had  chosen 
her  for  his  sacred  purpose.  Unions  be- 
tween gods  and  women  are  frequently 
related  in  the  ancient  mythologies,  and 
are  always  regarded  as  sanctifying  the 
woman,  of  elevating  her  above  her  fellow 
mortals,  and  of  endowing  her  child  with 
god-like  attributes  ;  as  witness  the  legends 
of  the  Greek  and  Roman  mythologies, 
and  the  account  of  the  immaculate  con- 
ception and  birth  of  Krishna,  the  Hindoo 
savior,  and  of  Buddha,  the  founder  of 
one  of  the  greatest  religious  faiths  of  the 
world. 

This  universally   recognized  necessity 
for  the  union  of  the  male  with  the  female 


THE  FEMALE  PRINCIPLE.  12$ 

element,  in  order  to  accomplish  the  glo- 
rious purpose  of  reproduction,  naturally 
resulted  in  the  worship  of  the  female  prin- 
ciple as  co-ordinate  with  that  of  the  male, 
as  is  found  in  many  of  the  early  religions. 
Isis,  the  great  feminine  creative  god  of  the 
Egyptians,  was  worshiped  with  a  venera- 
tion fully  equal  to  that  bestowed  upon 
her  masculine  companion,  Osiris ;  and 
though  all  nations  did  not  give  to  the 
feminine  deity  so  high  a  rank,  there  was 
none  that  did  not  have  its  Goddess  of 
Life,  its  Queen  of  Heaven,  its  Friga,  its 
Aphrodite,  or  one  of  a  great  variety  of 
forms  and  names  under  which  the  deifica- 
tion of  the  feminine  principle  was  known. 
While  mankind  came  to  realize  the 
vast  significance  of  the  feminine  nature, 
and  to  worship  it  as  a  factor  in  the  di- 
vine purpose  of  all  life,  he  did  not,  as  a 
rule,  give  to  it  equal  rank  with  that  of  the 
great  male  principle.  The  masculine  Crea- 
tor has  always  been  supreme  in  his  power 
and  capabilities.  The  initiative  of  all  life 
and  activity  rests  with  him  ;  he  is  the  ac- 


126  SEX   WORSHIP. 

tive,  moving,  generating  power  of  nature, 
while  the  female  is  the  receptive,  passive 
element,  the  molder  and  preserver  of  life. 

As  there  were  in  prehistoric  times,  so 
are  there  to-day  certain  sects  that  consider 
and  worship  the  female  principle  as  supe- 
rior to  that  of  the  male.  These  are  the 
Hindoo  worshipers  of  Sacti,  the  supreme 
feminine  creative  deity,  whose  worship 
consists  in  the  adoration  of  the  vulva,  as 
her  sacred  symbol  and  divine  incarnation. 
In  adoring  her  mentally  the  worshiper  is 
taught  to  imagine  this  symbol,  which  is 
commonly  called  the  yoni,  in  which  he 
must  see  a  chapel,  which  he  is  to  enter 
and  wherein  he  is  to  worship. 

The  principal  ceremony  of  this  sect  con- 
sists in  a  religious  service  designed  for  the 
purpose  of  manifesting  reverence  for  and 
paying  tribute  to  the  divine  female  power. 

This  ceremony  requires  the  presence  of 
a  young,  beautiful  and  nude  girl,  as  a  liv- 
ing representative  of  the  goddess.  She  is 
generally  chosen  from  the  company  of 
consecrated  nautch  girls  attached  to  the 


THE  FEMALE  PRINCIPLE.  I2/ 

temple,  and  one  thus  selected  esteems  it  a 
special  honor,  as  a  tribute  to  her  beauty, 
accomplishments  and  abilities,  which  must 
be  of  the  highest  order  to  render  her 
worthy  as  a  representative  of  the  immac- 
ulate deity.  To  this  girl  meat  and  wine 
are  offered  by  the  devotees,  after  which 
follow  dancing  and  the  chanting  of  hymns. 
As  an  act  of  the  highest  devotion,  and  as 
typical  of  the  divine  means  by  which  life 
is  produced,  the  devout  worshipers  con- 
clude the  ceremony  by  a  sexual  offering 
to  the  sacred  representative  of  the  deity, 
who  is  obliged  to  bestow  her  favors  upon 
all  of  the  devotees  who  desire  thus  to  pay 
homage  to  their  creator. 

The  ancient  holy  regard  for  the  femi- 
nine power  was,  in  a  measure  due,  to  its 
magical  and  inciting  effect  upon  the  mas- 
culine nature.  It  was  through  the  woman 
that  the  divine  sexual  emotions  were 
aroused  ;  it  was  the  sight  or  thought  of 
her  that  brought  into  activity  man's  gen- 
erative nature  and  powers.  The  invigor- 
ating and  inspiring  effect  produced  by  the 


128  SEX   WORSHIP. 

sight  or  touch  of  a  woman,  especially  a 
virgin,  in  the  garb  of  nature,  was  regarded 
with  deepest  reverence,  as  a  manifesta- 
tion of  the  divine  feminine  power.  Its 
potency  was  universally  recognized,  and 
we  are  told  that  it  was  employed  for  the 
purpose  of  infusing  life  and  vigor  into 
king  David,  after  he  had  become  aged : 

"  Now  king  David  was  old  and  stricken 
in  years,  and  they  covered  him  with 
clothes,  but  he  gat  no  heat.  Wherefore 
his  servants  said  unto  him,  Let  there  be 
sought  for  my  lord  a  young  virgin  ;  and 
let  her  stand  before  the  king,  and  let  her 
cherish  him,  and  let  her  lie  in  thy  bosom, 
that  my  lord  may  get  heat."(i  K.  I  :  I,  2). 

Like  those  of  the  masculine  principle, 
the  attributes  of  the  feminine  element  of 
life  were  ascribed  to  a  deity,  the  feminine 
ruler  and  patron  of  fecundity,  of  sexual 
power  and  of  love ;  and  the  organ  (the 
yoni)  through  which  her  powers  were  man- 
ifested became  her  sacred  symbol,  and  was 
worshiped  in  the  same  light  and  with  the 
same  veneration  as  the  phallus.  In  itself, 


THE  FEMALE  PRINCIPLE.  1 29 

however, — aside  from  its  theological  sig- 
nificance— it  was  regarded  with  greater 
reverence  than  its  masculine  counterpart  ; 
it  was  more  carefully  concealed,  and 
treated  as  more  mystical.  The  sight  of  a 
living  yoni,  particularly  that  of  a  virgin, 
was  thought  to  be  of  magical  virtue,  and 
was  considered  a  certain  omen  of  good 
fortune. 

A  remnant  of  the  devout  regard  for- 
merly inspired  by  this  representative  of 
the  feminine  deity  is  still  to  be  found 
among  certain  sects  in  India,  Palestine 
and  parts  of  Africa.  The  devotee,  on 
bended  knee  and  in  silent  prayer,  offers 
to  the  uncovered  yoni  a  part  of  the  food 
given  him  by  the  woman,  before  he  tastes 
it,  which  she  accepts  and  eats  as  evidence 
of  its  purity  from  poison.  This  ceremony 
is  simply  a  solemn  method  of  vowing 
mutual  friendship,  and  is  similar  in  mean- 
ing to  the  ancient  mode  of  swearing  by 
grasping  the  phallus. 
9 


CHAPTER  VII. 

FEMININE    EMBLEMS. 

The  independent  yoni,  the  feminine  sym- 
bol of  creation,  was  naturally  more  diffi- 
cult to  exactly  represent  in  the  form  of  an 
image  than  was  the  phallus,  or  lingam ; 
and  from  the  very  beginning,  therefore, 
this  symbol  was  portrayed  in  more  or 
less  conventional  forms,  and  was  not  in- 
frequently extended  to  other  more  easily 
represented  portions  of  the  female  anat- 
omy, as  the  breasts,  the  mons  Veneris, 
etc. 

The  principal  design  in  representation 
of  the  yoni  was  one  that  was  known  un- 
der the  name  of  Asherah,  which  is  trans- 
lated and  referred  to  in  the  Bible  as  the 
grove,  or  groves.  This  image,  which  was 
a  symbol  of  Ashtoreth,  or  of  the  union  of 
Baal  and  Ashtoreth — the  male  and  female 
130 


FEMININE  EMBLEMS.  131 

procreative  deities  of  the  Assyrians, — was 
generally  made  of  wood,  and  had  in 
its  center  an  opening  or  fissure,  which 
was  regarded  as  preeminently  sacred,  as 
the  Door  of  Life.  Above  this  fissure  was 
an  emblematical  representation  of  the  cli- 
toris, divided  into  seven  parts,  and  around 
the  Door  of  Life  were  carved  tufts  of  hair, 
thirteen  in  number,  indicating  the  annual 
fertile  periods  of  a  woman. 

Designs  of  this  image  occur  very  fre- 
quently in  the  sculptures  of  Nineveh  and 
Babylon.  It  is  almost  always  shown  re- 
ceiving the  adoration  of  the  king  and  his 
attendants,  who  hold  in  their  hands  pine 
cones  and  other  symbolical  sex  offerings. 
Above  the  grove  is  a  winged  figure — the 
celestial  bowman,  with  his  bow  and  a 
quiver  full  of  arrows,  for  the  use  of  all  who 
desire  divine  vigor  in  the  concluding  rites 
of  the  worship,  which  required  that  the 
devotees  should  unite  in  sexual  congress, 
as  a  fitting  tribute  to  the  deity  ;  a  per- 
formance that  took  place  in  a  small  bower 
situated  near  the  idol. 


132  SEX  WORSHIP. 

In  the  figure  and  office  of  the  Assyrian 
bowman  we  see  the  prototype  of  the  Gre- 
cian Cupid,  the  little  god  of  love,  or  ama- 
tory desire,  with  his  bow  and  arrows  ;  the 
arrow  being  a  very  old  phallic  emblem. 

According  to  the  Old  Testament,  the 
Israelites  were  constantly  lapsing  into  idol- 
atry by  serving  Baal  and  the  groves.  Many 
of  their  kings  deserted  the  faith  of  their 
fathers  by  building  altars,  temples  and 
images  and  burning  incense  to  the  phallic 
deities  of  the  Chaldeans,  Assyrians,  Egyp- 
tians and  others.  They  were  particu- 
larly persistent  in  the  worship  of  the 
groves,  "  which  were  set  up  on  every  high 
hill  and  under  every  green  tree."  These 
were  usually  surrounded  with  hangings  or 
curtains,  forming  a  tent  or  semi-secluded 
bower,  to  which  the  male  and  female  devo- 
tees repaired  for  the  sexual  comsumma- 
tion  of  their  worship,  after  having  anoint- 
ed the  image  and  placed  before  it  offer- 
ings of  fruits,  flowers  and  incense,  ac- 
companied with  prayers  and  the  chanting 
of  hymns. 


FEMININE  EMBLEMS.  133 

Judging  from  the  lamentations  of  the 
prophets,  and  their  allusions  to  some  of 
the  practices  indulged  in  by  the  children 
of  Israel,  it  is  evident  that  the  worship  of 
Baal  and  other  phallic  deities  of  the  neigh- 
boring tribes,  was  of  an  intensely  sexual 
character,  and  appealed  more  strongly  to 
the  religious  disposition  of  those  days  than 
did  the  more  temperate  worship  prescribed 
by  the  laws  of  Moses.  For  a  graphic  de- 
scription of  the  "abominations"  resulting 
from  the  religious  intercourse  of  the  Jews 
with  the  Assyrians,  Chaldeans  and  Baby- 
lonians, the  reader  is  referred  to  the  i6th 
and  the  23d  chapters  of  Ezekiel. 

The  most  common  form  of  the  feminine 
symbol  was  that  made  in  representation  of 
the  mons  Veneris.  This  was  represented 
by  mounds  and  pyramids,  remains  of 
which,  in  various  styles  and  sizes,  are  to 
be  found  in  all  parts  of  the  world ;  the 
most  conspicuous  examples  being  the  pyr- 
amids of  Egypt,  which  are  still  the  wonder 
of  the  world,  though  comparatively  few 
people  are  aware  of  the  religious  and 


134  SEX   WORSHIP. 

sexual  significance  of  these  marvelous 
structures. 

They  were  erected  in  honor  of  the  fem- 
inine creative  deity,  and  no  other  motive 
but  that  of  religion  could  have  prompted 
the  building  of  such  gigantic  monuments. 
Various  explanations  of  their  purpose  and 
significance  have  been  set  forth,  with  the 
result  that  we  have  been  taught  to  regard 
them  simply  as  tombs  or  as  great  observa- 
tories, as  though  the  ancients  had  nothing 
better  to  do,  or  had  no  higher  motives, 
than  to  build  these  wonderful  structures 
for  the  sole  purpose  of  sepulchers,  or  to 
scatter  observatories  all  over  the  country, 
and  many  of  them  within  close  range  of 
one  another. 

When  we  consider  that  the  pyramid  of 
Cheops,  for  example,  covers  an  area  of 
nearly  fourteen  acres,  that  it  was  origin- 
ally four  hundred  and  seventy-nine  feet  in 
height  and  contained  ninety  million  cubic 
feet  of  rock,  which  is  in  immense  blocks, 
each  of  which  had  to  be  quarried,  dressed 
and  carried  to  the  pyramid,  and  this  in 


FEMININE  EMBLEMS.  135 

an  age  (three  thousand  years  before  Christ) 
when  mechanical  contrivances  were  of  the 
most  primitive  kind, — when  these  facts  are 
borne  in  mind,  it  is  irrational  to  suppose 
that  this  titanic  work  was  designed  for  an 
insignificant  purpose. 

It  is  true  that  all  the  pyramids  of 
Egypt  were  intended  for  sepulchers,  but 
their  shape  and  colossal  proportions  were 
the  result  of  a  religious  desire  to  sanctify 
the  resting-places  of  the  dead,  and  to 
honor  the  feminine  creator. 

Pyramids,  or  their  remains,  are  like- 
wise met  with  in  Babylon,  in  various  parts 
of  Italy  and  India,  and  in  China  and 
Japan.  Next  to  Egypt  they  are  most 
frequent  in  Mexico  and  other  portions  of 
America.  Some  of  these  ancient  Mexican 
pyramids  far  exceed  in  area  the  dimen- 
sions of  the  largest  Egyptian  monuments, 
but,  unlike  those  of  Egypt,  were  generally 
designed  for  use  as  temples,  though  their 
religious  significance  and  symbolical  pur- 
pose were  the  same. 

The  pyramid  was  the  elaborated  or  con- 


136  SEX   WORSHIP. 

ventionalized  form  of  the  mound,  which 
was  the  primary  symbol  of  the  mons 
Veneris.  Remains  of  artificial  mounds, 
as  religious  emblems,  are  common  in  many 
parts  of  the  world  ;  but,  as  a  rule,  greater 
reverence  was  paid  to  natural  mounds 
and  elevations,  especially  those  of  well- 
defined  shape.  Such  elevations,  there- 
fore, were  regarded  as  sacred  spots,  and 
were  dedicated  to  divine  worship ;  altars 
and  temples  being  considered  more  holy 
if  placed  upon  a  mound,  and  we  learn 
from  the  Old  Testament  how  intimately 
the  "  high  places  "  and  "  high  hills  "  were 
associated  with  the  worship  of  the  feminine 
deity. 

This  regard  for  natural  elevations  fre- 
quently extended  to  mountains,  and  there 
are  sects  to  this  day  who  worship  moun- 
tains as  symbols  of  the  feminine  creative 
deity.  In  Germany  is  the  famous  Horsel- 
berg,  commonly  called  Venusberg,  or 
mountain  of  Venus.  This  is  the  mountain 
connected  with  the  legend  of  Tannhauser, 
and  those  acquainted  with  the  legend  will 


FEMININE  EMBLEMS.  137 

perceive  the  full  significance  of  the  name 
given  the  mountain.  In  ancient  times  it 
was  held  in  particular  veneration,  not  only 
because  of  its  shape,  but  because  of  the 
large  cavern  that  opens  into  it. 

A  natural  opening  was  always  looked 
upon  as  a  particularly  sacred  emblem. 
Any  hole  or  cave,  any  cleft  or  fissure, 
any  natural  crevice,  was  regarded  with 
holy  reverence,  as  sacred  to  the  divine 
Mother  Earth.  From  time  immemorial 
the  earth  has  been  regarded  as  feminine  ; 
as  the  All-creative  Mother  ;  the  consort  of 
the  Almighty  Father,  the  Sun.  Accord- 
ing to  many  early  myths,  the  human  race 
was  conceived  in  the  womb  of  the  Earth- 
Mother,  and  the  first  man  and  woman 
came  forth  from  the  under-world.  To 
this  day  we  talk  of  men  as  creatures  of 
earth  ;  as  coming  from  the  earth  and  re- 
turning to  the  earth,  and  in  our  burial 
custom  we  are  but  continuing  the  an- 
cient practice,  that  had  its  origin  with 
prehistoric  man,  of  reverentially  giving 
back  to  Mother  Earth  the  children  of  her 
womb. 


138  SEX   WORSHIP. 

When  once  the  idea  became  general 
that  our  world  is  feminine,  it  was  but  rea- 
sonable that  natural  orifices  should  have 
been  regarded  as  typical  of  that  part  which 
characterizes  woman,  and  this  religious 
regard  for  openings  in  the  earth  naturally 
led  to  a  like  veneration  for  crevices  or 
cleft  in  rocks,  and  finally  for  artificial 
openings  or  apertures,  especially  those 
connected  with  places  of  worship.  In  the 
vestibule  of  a  church  at  Rome  there  is  a 
large  perforated  stone,  in  the  hole  of  which 
the  Romans  are  said  to  have  placed  their 
hands  while  swearing  a  solemn  oath  ;  a 
practice  analogous  to  that  of  the  He- 
brews. 

As  at  birth,  a  new  being  issues  from  the 
mother,  so  it  was  supposed  that  emer- 
gence from  a  terrestrial  or  other  sancti- 
fied cleft  was  equivalent  to  a  new  birth 
— to  regeneration, — and  in  many  places  it 
was  a  common  practice  for  parents  to 
sanctify  their  children  by  passing  them 
through  openings  and  crevices. 

Artificial  holes,  designed  for  purposes 


FEMININE  EMBLEMS.  139 

of  purification,  are  still  to  be  seen  in  some 
of  the  ancient  religious  structures  of  the 
British  Isles  and  India  ;  the  stones  in  a  cer- 
tain part  of  the  building  being  so  arranged 
as  to  have  a  hole  under  them,  through 
which  the  devotees  passed,  and  were  thus 
purified,  or  "born  again." 

Similar  customs  are  still  practised  in 
parts  of  India.  On  the  Island  of  Bombay, 
at  Malabar  Hill,  there  is  a  rock,  upon  the 
surface  of  which  is  a  natural  crevice,  which 
connects  with  a  cavity  opening  below. 
This  is  used  by  the  Gentoos  as  a  means 
of  purification,  which  they  say  is  effected 
by  going  in  at  the  lower  opening  and 
emerging  from  the  cavity  above.  A  sim- 
ilar practice  is  more  extensively  observed 
in  the  northern  portion  of  India,  where 
there  is  a  celebrated  place  to  which  many 
pilgrims  go,  to  pass  through  an  opening 
in  the  mountain ;  the  performance  being 
known  as  "  passing  through  the  Cow's 
Belly."  In  other  places  this  mode  of 
purification  is  accomplished  by  passing 
through  an  artificial  structure  in  the  shape 


I4O  SEX  WORSHIP. 

of  a  cow ;  the  devotees  going  in  at  the 
mouth  and  emerging  at  the  rear. 

The  cow  has  always  been  regarded  as  a 
particularly  holy  emblem  of  the  feminine 
deity.  As  the  incarnation  of  Isis  it  was 
worshiped  by  the  Egyptians  with  a  venera- 
tion equal  to  that  bestowed  upon  the  bull. 
Many  of  the  ancient  temples  dedicated 
to  the  feminine  deity  contained  golden 
images  of  the  cow  or  calf,  and  we  are  all 
familiar  with  the  adoration  paid  by  the 
Israelites  to  this  creature  as  a  sacred 
symbol.  "  And  when  the  people  saw  that 
Moses  delayed  to  come  down  out  of  the 
mount,  the  people  gathered  themselves 
together  unto  Aaron,  and  said  unto  him, 
Up,  make  us  gods  which  shall  go  before 
us  (Ex.  32:  i.).  And  when  the  image  of 
the  calf  had  been  made  from  the  golden 
earrings  of  the  people,  it  was  worshiped 
with  loud  rejoicings,  as  the  representative 
of  the  deity  that  was  to  lead  them  out  of 
the  wilderness. 

In  later  years  Rehoboam,  the  king  of 
the  Israelites,  likewise  made  two  calves  of 


FEMININE  EMBLEMS.  14! 

gold,  and  said  unto  the  people,  "  Behold 
thy  gods,  O  Israel,  which  brought  thee 
up  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt ;  "  *  clearly 
demonstrating  that  the  cow  or  calf  was 
persistently  regarded  as  a  sacred  symbol, 
notwithstanding  that  the  worship  of  such 
images  was  forbidden  by  the  Mosaic 
law. 

A  symbol  of  equal  significance  with 
that  of  the  opening  or  aperture,  but  of  far 
greater  sanctity  and  importance,  was  the 
chest  or  ark,  or  any  consecrated  reposi- 
tory or  enclosure.  The  yoni  was  the 
receptacle,  the  divine  ark,  of  the  phallus ; 
within  its  hidden  enclosure  was  contained 
the  mystery  of  life.  Its  interior,  to  which 
the  phallus,  the  Creator,  alone  had  access, 
was  the  holy  of  holies.  This  was  sym- 
bolized by  the  ark,  the  holiest  of  all 
symbols  in  the  worship  and  ceremonies  of 
the  ancients.  The  most  sacred  object 
connected  with  the  worship  of  Osiris  was 
the  ark,  containing  the  divine  symbol  of 
life. 

*  I.  Kings  12:  28. 


142  SEX   WORSHIP. 

The  Jewish  ark  of  the  covenant,  which 
in  size  and  manner  of  construction  very 
closely  resembled  the  sacred  ark  of  the 
Egyptians,  was  the  most  important  and 
holy  feature  in  the  life  and  worship  of  the 
Israelites.  The  Lord  himself  furnished 
the  plans  for  its  construction,  as  we  read 
in  the  twenty-fifth  chapter  of  Exodus, 
and  the  Bible  contains  numerous  refer- 
ences to  its  supreme  holiness  and  sanc- 
tity. 

It  was  always  guarded  with  the  greatest 
care  and  veneration  by  the  priests,  and 
when  moved  from  one  place  to  another, 
was  borne  upon  the  shoulders  of  the  Le- 
vites,  and  attended  with  a  grand  cere- 
monial procession,  "  with  shouting  and 
with  sound  of  the  cornet,  and  with  trum- 
pets, and  with  cymbals,  making  a  noise 
with  psalteries,  and  harps."  We  are  told 
in  the  fifth  and  sixth  chapters  of  I.  Samuel 
of  the  sore  distress  that  fell  upon  the 
Israelites  on  the  occasion  of  its  seizure 
by  the  Philistines  and  of  the  severe  pun- 
ishments inflicted  by  the  Lord  upon  the 


FEMININE  EMBLEMS.  143 

Philistines,  in  consequence.  Men  and 
cities  were  destroyed  with  great  rigor, 
until  the  ark  was  returned ;  and  when, 
as  the  result  of  their  joy  at  its  recovery, 
fifty  thousand  men  had  the  profane  au- 
dacity to  look  within  its  sacred  enclosure, 
the  Lord  slew  them  all  without  mercy. 
(I.  Sam.  6:  19). 

The  ark  was  the  divine  symbol  of  the 
earth,  of  the  female  principle  ;  containing 
the  germ  of  all  animated  nature,  and  re- 
garded as  the  Great  Mother  from  whom 
all  things  come.  It  was  likewise  the 
symbol  of  salvation  ;  the  place  of  safety, 
the  sacred  receptacle  of  the  divine 
wisdom  and  power ;  hence,  the  ark  of 
the  covenant  was  the  holy  abiding  place 
of  the  tables  of  law  that  had  been  handed 
to  Moses  by  the  Lord.  It  also  contained 
Aaron's  rod,  which  sprang  into  life,  and 
budded  ;  conveying  the  idea  of  sym- 
bolized fertility,  and  thus  making  the  ark 
the  repository  of  the  emblem  of  the  crea- 
tive deity.  To  this  day  the  ark  is  re- 
tained as  a  religious  symbol  in  the  Chris- 


144  SEX  WORSHIP. 

tian  church ;  for  the  Roman  Catholic 
pyx,  the  holy  receptacle  of  the  body  of 
Christ,  is  but  an  adaptation  of  the  ark, 
and  has  the  same  purpose  and  signifi- 
cance as  the  ancient  symbol. 

The  ark  of  the  Egyptians  contained 
the  symbols  of  the  Triune  Creator  ;  the 
phallus,  the  egg  and  the  serpent  ;  the  first 
representing  the  Sun,  the  male  genera- 
tive principle,  the  active  Creator  ;  the 
second,  the  Preserver  ;  the  passive,  female 
principle  ;  and  the  third,  the  Destroyer, 
or  Reproducer.  The  egg  as  an  emblem 
of  the  female  principle  was  a  very  com- 
mon emblem  in  all  ancient  faiths.  It  was 
considered  as  containing  the  germ  of  all 
life  ;  the  image  of  that  which  produced  all 
things  in  itself ;  the  emblem  of  life  re- 
generated. As  a  symbol  of  the  reproduc- 
tion or  resurrection  of  life  it  is  still  em- 
ployed in  the  modern  Easter  celebration, 
as  it  was  in  similar  celebrations  in  all  past 
ages. 

The  moon,  like  the  earth,  being  recep- 
tive only,  was  in  a  similar  manner  regarded 


FEMININE  EMBLEMS.  145 

as  feminine,  and  was  not  infrequently 
worshiped  as  an  actual  deity — the  Lunar 
Goddess.  Ever  remaining  the  same  from 
year  to  year,  unchanged  by  age  and  un- 
weakened  by  use,  the  ancients  came  to 
think  of  the  moon  as  the  ever-continuing 
virgin  wife  of  the  sun,  and  the  virgin 
mother  of  all  inferior  deities.  This  natur- 
ally led  to  the  adoption  of  representations 
of  the  moon  as  peculiarly  significant  sym- 
bols of  the  feminine  principle  of  nature, 
the  chief  of  these  being  the  crescent,  as  an 
emblem  of  virginity.  This  is  one  of  the 
most  common  and  widely  diffused  femi- 
nine emblems,  and  to  the  present  day 
amulets  in  the  shape  of  a  crescent  are 
worn  by  the  women  of  Italy,  and  are  re- 
garded as  especially  appropriate  to  virgins 
and  pregnant  women. 

In  pictorial  representations  of  the  yoni, 
as  the  symbol  of  the  feminine  procreative 
power,  it  is  often  portrayed  with  more 
realism  than  is  to  be  found  in  its  images. 
This  is  especially  true  when  shown  in  its 
place  on  the  female  form,  as  is  common 
10 


146  SEX   WORSHIP. 

on  ancient  coins,  vases,  sculptures  and  in 
designs  on  temples.  Women  with  exag- 
gerated pudenda  are  frequently  depicted 
on  sacred  lamps  and  other  church  utensils, 
and  until  within  a  short  time  ago  several 
churches  in  Ireland  had  over  their  main 
entrance  an  elaborate  sculpture  of  a  wo- 
man pointing  to  her  yoni.  A  similar  de- 
sign was  to  be  seen  on  the  side  of  a  church 
entrance  at  Servatos,  in  Spain,  while  an 
equally  phallic  man  was  exhibited  on  the 
opposite  side. 

Symbolical  designs  of  a  similar  charac- 
ter are  still  to  be  seen  in  India,  plainly 
inscribed  on  the  temples,  or  carved  in 
stone  and  placed  on  the  walls.  Over  the 
gates  of  one  of  the  cities  of  the  ancient 
province  of  Sirinpatau  stands  a  life-size 
stone  statue  of  Sita,  one  of  the  feminine 
deities  of  procreation,  while  on  each  side 
of  her  are  three  naked  penitents  on  their 
knees,  engaged  in  the  act  prescribed  by 
the  ancient  ritual  for  the  adoration  of  this 
goddess. 

In  many  cases,  especially  in  the  ancient 


FEMININE  EMBLEMS.  147 

temples  of  Yucatan  and  Peru,  the  key- 
stone over  the  portal  was  adorned  with  a 
picture  or  carving  of  the  yoni.  Our  mod- 
ern use  of  the  horseshoe,  as  an  emblem  of 
good  luck,  owes  its  origin  to  this  custom 
of  placing  a  design  of  the  yoni  above  the 
door  as  a  talisman  ;  the  horseshoe  being 
adopted  because  of  its  resemblance  to  the 
form  which  the  representation  of  the  yoni 
most  frequently  assumed. 

The  pointed  oval  was  one  of  the  most 
common  of  the  more  conventional  designs 
of  the  yoni,  and  in  various  modifications 
is  still  retained  in  our  church  architecture, 
as  may  be  seen  in  the  shape  of  the  doors, 
the  windows  and  arches.  This  symbolical 
oval  was  frequently  referred  to  as  the 
"  Door  of  Life,"  and  is  to  be  seen  in  its 
true  yonic  significance  in  many  ancient 
as  well  as  modern  religious  designs. 
Virgin  mothers  and  feminine  deities  were 
generally  represented  standing  within  a 
frame  of  this  shape,  and  there  are  still  in 
existence  medals  that  were  worn  by  Chris- 
tian pilgrims  to  the  shrine  of  the  Virgin 


148  SEX  WORSHIP. 

of  Amadon,  on  which  is  inscribed  a  design 
of  this  character,  which  was  commonly 
known  as  "  The  Mother  and  Child  in  the 
Door  of  Life." 

As  was  pointed  out  in  the  case  of  the 
phallus,  so  it  may  be  shown  that  many 
natural  objects  were  chosen  as  emblems 
of  the  yoni,  because  of  some  resemblance 
to  that  symbol.  Among  the  most  com- 
mon and  familiar  emblems  of  this  charac- 
ter is  the  conch  shell,  which  is  still  worn 
as  an  amulet  in  various  parts  of  the  world, 
as  it  was  by  the  devout  women  of  anti- 
quity. 

The  fish,  too,  is  a  well-known  religious 
symbol,  sacred  originally  to  Ishtar,  Venus 
and  other  feminine  deifications  of  the  sex- 
ual nature.  This  was  chosen  partly  on 
account  of  its  fecundity  and  partly  because 
its  mouth  was  supposed  to  resemble  the 
opening  into  the  womb.  Piscatorial  de- 
signs are  frequently  met  with  on  ancient 
temples  and  coins,  and  are  not  uncommon 
in  the  present-day  symbology  of  India, 
one  of  the  principal  designs  being  that 


FEMININE  EMBLEMS.  149 

of  Vishnu  emerging  from  the  mouth  of  a 
great  fish.  The  bishop's  mitre  is  a  modi- 
fied form  of  a  fish's  head  and  mouth ;  a 
style  of  religious  head-dress  that  resulted 
from  the  ancient  practice  of  the  priests  of 
Nineveh,  whose  veneration  for  the  fish  as 
a  holy  emblem  led  them  to  adopt  a  form 
of  dress  resembling,  as  far  as  possible,  the 
outward  appearance  of  this  sacred  crea- 
ture. 

The  fish  was  a  common  symbol  of 
Friga,  the  Scandinavian  goddess  of  mar- 
riage, from  whom  is  derived  the  name  of 
the  sixth  day  of  the  week,  as  on  that  day 
the  Scandinavians  honored  the  goddess 
by  offerings  of  her  sacred  emblem ;  a 
custom  which  we  still  observe  by  eating 
fish  on  Friday,  or  Friga's  day. 

In  this  connection  it  might  be  of  inter- 
est to  call  attention  to  the  fact,  that  three 
prominent  phallic  emblems  have  been  re- 
tained by  us  as  designs  for  weather  vanes 
— the  fish,  the  cock  and  the  arrow.  These 
emblems  originally  surmounted  the  towers 
and  spires  of  religious  buidings,  but  since 


150  SEX  WORSHIP. 

their  significance  has  become  obsolete, 
they  have  been  relegated  to  the  barns 
and  stables. 

The  fig  tree  is  a  particularly  appropriate 
and  suggestive  emblem  in  sex  worship. 
Its  trilobed  leaf  is  emblematical  of  the 
masculine  triad,  and  was  commonly  used 
and  referred  to  in  that  sense,  and  hence 
its  use  as  a  symbolical  covering  for  the 
private  parts  of  a  nude  figure.  Besides 
its  masculine  suggestiveness,  this  tree  had 
also  a  feminine  significance,  from  the  fact 
that  its  fruit  was  supposed  to  bear  a  strong 
likeness  to  the  shape  of  the  virgin  uterus, 
and  that  the  eating  of  it  was  thought  to 
promote  fecundity. 

It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  this  tree 
was  one  of  unusual  sacredness  and  signifi- 
cance, and,  in  the  early  religious  records, 
is  frequently  used  as  a  figure  of  speech 
for  the  expression  of  sentiments  and  ideas, 
which  are  meaningless  to  those  unac- 
quainted with  the  many  symbolical  attri- 
butes that  have  been  ascribed  to  this  im- 
portant tree.  "  To  sit  under  the  vine  and 


FEMININE  EMBLEMS.  15  I 

fig  tree  ;  "  "  Don't  care  a  fig,"  and  other 
like  expressions,  are  all  of  sexual  signifi- 
cance. 

In  addition  to  the  fig,  a  great  many 
other  trees  and  fruits  were  symbolical 
of  the  procreative  functions ;  as  the  pome- 
granate, the  fir,  the  apple,  the  cedar,  the 
palm,  grapes,  vines  and  berries  ;  all  of 
which,  together  with  several  other  exam- 
ples, are  alluded  to  in  their  figurative 
sense  in  the  Song  of  Solomon.  This 
song  represents  an  amatory  duet  between 
Solomon  and  the  daughter  of  Pharaoh  on 
the  occasion  of  their  nuptials,  and  is  sup- 
posed to  be  but  one  of  a  thousand  similar 
love-songs  and  odes  composed  by  king 
Solomon.  This  particular  composition 
is  regarded  as  the  song  of  songs,  and  is, 
indeed,  an  exquisite  poem,  being  pre- 
served among  the  books  of  the  Bible  as 
emblematical  of  the  love  between  Christ 
and  the  Church. 

This  song  affords  a  striking  example  of 
what  has  been  said  regarding  the  purity 
of  sexuality,  when  made  the  object  of  or 


I$2  SEX  WORSHIP. 

connected  with  religious  veneration. 
Hundreds  of  thousands  of  modest  and 
devout  men  and  women  reverently  read 
the  Song  of  Solomon,  and  fail  to  see 
in  its  amatory  language  anything  but 
what  is  pure  and  holy  ;  and  yet  were 
this  song  to  be  read  by  one  who  under- 
stood not  its  religious  significance,  it 
could  not  but  impress  him  as  highly 
erotic  and  sensual. 

When  the  lover,  speaking  to  his  be- 
loved one,  says,  "  Thy  thighs  are  like 
jewels  ;  thy  navel  is  like  a  round  goblet ; 
thy  belly  is  like  an  heap  of  wheat  set 
about  with  lilies,"  the  reverent  Christian 
sees  only  a  poetic  description  of  the 
Church.  And  when,  in  turn,  the  woman 
says  of  the  man,  "  His  cheeks  are  as  a 
bed  of  spices  ;  his  lips  like  lilies,  his  belly 
as  bright  ivory,  and  his  legs  as  pillars  of 
marble,  set  upon  sockets  of  fine  gold," 
and  "  he  shall  lie  all  night  betwixt  my 
breasts,"  the  pious  reader  beholds  nought 
but  a  holy  figurative  expression  of  the 
love  of  the  Church  for  the  Savior. 


FEMININE  EMBLEMS.  153 

With  this  Song  in  mind,  let  us  not 
hastily  condemn  those  who  formerly  in- 
dulged in  similar  or  other  forms  of  sex- 
ual expressions  of  religion,  however 
gross  or  sensual  they  may  appear  to  us 
in  our  ignorance  of  the  religious  meaning 
attached  to  them. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  SERPENT  AND  THE   CROSS. 

SERPENT  worship,  next  to  the  adora- 
tion of  the  phallus,  is  one  of  the  most  re- 
markable and,  at  the  same  time,  one  of 
the  most  widespread  and  persistent  forms 
of  religion  the  world  has  ever  known. 
There  is  not  a  country  of  the  ancient 
world,  in  the  western  as  well  as  the  east- 
ern hemisphere,  where  it  cannot  be  traced, 
pervading  every  known  faith  and  system 
of  theology,  and  leaving  abundant  proofs 
of  its  existence  and  extent,  in  the  shape 
of  monuments,  temples  and  earthworks, 
as  well  as  in  designs  and  inscriptions. 

No  other  symbol  has  been  invested 
with  such  a  variety  of  meanings  and  uses 
as  has  that  of  the  serpent.  It  typified 
Wisdom,  Power,  Eternity,  Good,  Evil, 
Life,  Reproduction  and  various  other  at- 


THE  SERPENT  AND  THE  CROSS.      155 

tributes  of  the  creative  principle.  It  en- 
tered into  the  mythology  of  every  nation 
— Egypt,  Syria,  Greece,  India,  China, 
Scandinavia,  America  ;  in  short,  there 
was  no  portion  of  the  globe  in  which 
it  was  not  recognized.  It  consecrated 
almost  every  temple,  it  symbolized  almost 
every  deity,  it  was  imagined  in  the 
heavens,  stamped  on  the  earth,  and  ruled 
in  the  realms  of  everlasting  sorrow. 

That  the  serpent  was  a  phallic  symbol 
there  is  no  doubt,  for  its  worship  is  coeval 
with  that  of  the  phallus,  and  formed  part 
of  the  religion  of  every  sex-worshiping 
nation  ;  and  while  the  meanings  attached 
to  it  were  numerous  and  various,  they  all 
had  reference  to  the  creative  or  reproduc- 
tive principle  of  nature,  and  are  readily 
reducible  to  the  fundamental  worship  of 
procreation. 

In  many  instances  the  serpent  was  em- 
ployed as  a  symbol  of  the  Creator,  of  the 
masculine  element  of  generation,  because 
of  its  shape  and  mobility  ;  a  living  phal- 
lus, as  it  were,  actuated  by  its  self-animat- 


156  SEX  WORSHIP. 

ing  spirit,  moving  without  hands  or  feet 
or  any  of  the  external  members  by  which 
other  beings  effect  their  motion.  Among 
most  of  the  eastern  nations,  however,  it 
had  a  more  subtle  significance,  in  that  it 
represented  an  emotion  or  a  feeling  rather 
than  a  material  object  or  actuality.  While 
in  a  general  sense  it  typified  the  Creator, 
its  specific  office  was  the  symbolization 
of  the  animating  spirit  of  procreation,  the 
stimulating  factor  in  the  production  and 
immortality  of  life. 

This  potent,  energizing  factor  was  the 
sexual  instinct,  the  Divine  Passion.  In 
it  the  ancient  philosophers  beheld  the 
vital  source  of  procreation,  the  moving 
energy  in  the  production  of  life  and  the 
population  of  the  world  ;  and  hence,  to 
them,  this  divine  passion,  this  all-pervad- 
ing, impelling  force,  was  the  actuating, 
creative  spirit  of  the  Almighty.  Con- 
sequently, it  became  an  object  of  venera- 
tion, as  the  divine,  spiritual  agent  in  the 
great  mystery  of  life ;  and,  naturally,  its 
worshipers  sought  for  it  some  suggestive 


THE  SERPENT  AND  THE  CROSS.      157 

symbol,  with  the  result  that  the  serpent 
was  chosen,  as  most  fully  and  comprehen- 
sively embodying  the  various  attributes 
of  the  Creator  in  his  subtle  and  omni- 
potent power. 

In  all  probability,  the  cobra  de  capello, 
or  hooded  snake  of  India,  was  the  par- 
ticular species  of  the  reptile  first  adopted 
as  an  emblem  of  the  Divine  Passion,  be- 
cause of  its  highly  suggestive  peculiari- 
ties. It  has  the  power  of  puffing  itself 
up,  enlarging  and  erecting  its  head,  when 
aroused  to  excitement,  and  its  size,  shape, 
position,  and  regular  pulsations  when  in 
this  condition,  as  well  as  its  well-known 
power  of  fascination,  were  all  extremely 
significant,  and  readily  appealed  to  the 
fancy  and  superstition  of  an  emotional 
and  religious  race. 

All  of  the  more  ancient  representations 
of  the  serpent  in  the  symbology  of  Egypt, 
Babylon,  Persia,  Greece,  and  other  coun- 
tries, bear  a  strong  resemblance  to  the 
cobra ;  but  after  the  adoption  of  this 
species  as  a  religious  emblem  it  was  not 


158  SEX  WORSHIP. 

long  before  the  significance  attached  to 
this  particular  kind  was  extended  to  the 
serpent  in  general,  and,  accordingly,  we 
find  that  each  nation  had  its  own  partic- 
ular variety  of  snake  as  a  sacred  symbol 
of  the  Divine  Passion,  or  invigorating 
energy  of  nature,  in  its  various  interpreta- 
tions of  Wisdom,  Eternity,  Life,  Repro- 
duction, and  so  on. 

The  important  significance  of  the  ser- 
pent is  shown  by  the  fact  that  this  animal 
was  employed  in  all  the  phallic  rites  and 
ceremonies  of  the  ancients,  and  was  an 
object  of  worship  to  every  nation  on  the 
globe.  According  to  the  Bible,  the 
brazen  serpent  made  by  Moses  at  the 
command  of  the  Lord  was  regarded  with 
the  deepest  veneration  by  the  Israelites, 
and  was  religiously  preserved  and  wor- 
shiped by  them  for  a  period  of  seven  hun- 
dred years,  when  it  was  finally  destroyed 
by  Hezekiah,  because  of  the  idolatrous 
rites  connected  with  its  worship. 

All  celebrations,  especially  those  in 
honor  of  the  procreative  deities,  were  at- 


THE  SERPENT  AND  THE  CROSS.     159 

tended  with  the  exhibition  and  adoration 
of  the  serpent.  In  the  mysteries  of  Egypt, 
Greece  and  Rome,  the  sacred  reptile  was 
carried  in  the  processions  by  troops  of 
noble  virgins,  and  many  of  the  people 
had  living  snakes  entwined  about  their 
heads,  or  carried  them  in  their  hands, 
while  shouting  with  religious  excitement. 
Nearly  every  ancient  city  of  the  East,  as 
well  as  in  Mexico  and  other  portions  of 
America,  had  its  serpent  temple,  in  which 
were  kept  enormous  specimens  of  this 
sacred  reptile,  that  were  worshiped  and 
waited  upon  with  divine  honors. 

Though,  as  a  general  rule,  the  serpent 
was  venerated  and  adored  as  the  repre- 
sentative of  supreme  power,  wisdom  and 
goodness,  it  was  also  not  infrequently  em- 
ployed as  the  symbol  of  evil.  This  nat- 
urally resulted  from  its  use  as  an  emblem 
of  the  sexual  desire  ;  for,  while  this  instinct 
was  on  the  one  hand  regarded  as  the  chief 
factor  in  the  work  of  the  Creator,  and, 
therefore,  the  source  of  all  good,  it  was  also 
recognized  as  the  cause  of  all  evil.  It 


l6o  SEX  WORSHIP. 

was  through  it  that  sin  came  into  the  world ; 
it  was  the  blind,  overmastering  passion 
that  incited  mankind  to  disobedience 
and  wickedness;  the  inflaming  spirit  of 
lust ;  the  tempter,  and  the  seducer.  Con- 
sequently, the  serpent  became  the  rep- 
resentative of  sin,  the  personification  of 
evil ;  and  this  devil,  this  opposer  of  God, 
or  the  Good,  was  the  sexual  nature,  in  its 
sensual  and  lustful  aspect. 

Accordingly,  it  is  not  difficult  to  com- 
prehend the  allegorical  significance  of  the 
serpent  in  the  account  of  the  temptation 
and  fall  of  Adam  and  Eve.  Their  sin 
consisted  in  acquainting  themselves  with 
fleshly  enjoyments.  They  resisted  not 
the  promptings  of  their  sexual  desires,  but 
permitted  themselves  to  partake  of  the 
forbidden  fruit. 

The  symbolism  of  the  serpent  is  very  ex- 
tensive, and  is  met  with  in  a  great  variety 
of  forms  and  combinations.  It  is,  how- 
ever, seldom  found  as  an  isolated  symbol, 
except  in  the  well-known  Egyptian  design, 
in  which  it  is  shown  with  its  tail  in 


THE  SERPENT  AND  THE  CROSS.      l6l 

its  mouth,  as  an  emblem  of  immortality 
and  future  life.  As  a  rule,  it  appears  in 
conjunction  with  male  or  female  emblems, 
and  one  of  the  oldest  and  best-known 
phallic  representations  in  which  the  serpent 
figures,  is  the  Rod  of  Life,  or  the  caduceus 
of  Mercury. 

This  represents  two  serpents  twined 
about  an  upright  staff  or  pole,  and  typifies 
the  phallus  receiving  life  and  potency 
from  the  Divine  Energy.  Its  special 
significance  is  due  to  the  position  of  the 
serpents,  which  is  that  adopted  by  the 
cobra  when  mating.  A  Hindoo  regards 
it  as  a  most  fortunate  omen  to  be  able  to 
witness  this  serpentine  union,  and  it  is 
said  that  if  while  in  this  condition  a  cloth 
be  thrown  over  the  serpents  it  becomes 
endowed  with  extraordinary  powers. 
Pieces  of  cloth,  that  have  been  thus  en- 
charmed,  are  preserved  with  the  greatest 
care  and  veneration,  as  talismans,  for  avert- 
ing evil  influences  or  for  securing  conjugal 
blessings. 

The  staff  of  life,  in  a  great  variety  of 
ii 


l62  SEX  WORSHIP. 

forms,  is  common  on  ancient  coins,  gems, 
and  sculptures.  In  many  designs  the 
serpent  is  shown  in  conjunction  with  both 
male  and  female  symbols,  and  ever  has 
for  its  significance  the  Divine  Passion, 
the  invigorating  and  inspiring  energy  of 
nature. 

This  divine,  actuating  force  of  nature 
owed  its  sacredness  to  the  fact  that  it  was 
the  necessary  and  inciting  means  to  the 
accomplishment  of  the  supreme  life-pur- 
pose of  man  and  woman — the  union  of  the 
two  for  the  reproduction  of  life  and  the 
perpetuation  of  the  race.  It  was  in  the 
gratification  of  the  Divine  Passion  that 
man  experienced  his  most  exalted  pleas- 
ure, and  beheld  the  direct  and  immediate 
cause  of  a  new  being  and  the  immortality 
of  life.  Hence,  the  act  of  generation,  the 
union  of  the  sexes,  was  regarded  as  su- 
premely sacred  and  divine.  It  was  the 
sublime  means  ordained  by  the  Creator 
for  the  fulfillment  of  his  infinite  purpose; 
and,  as  will  be  more  fully  shown  in  a  sub- 
sequent chapter,  was  regarded  as  a  most 


THE  SERPENT  AND  THE  CROSS.      163 

holy  act,  and  was  the  object  of  universal 
worship  and  of  devout,  religious  rites. 

Many  realistic  figures  and  designs  were 
employed  to  represent  this  holy  union  of 
the  sexes,  and  may  still  be  seen  on  the 
temples  and  monuments  of  ancient  Egypt 
and  of  India.  The  most  extensive  and 
sacred  symbol  of  the  Hindoos  is  the 
lingam-in-yoni,  an  image  made  of  wood  or 
stone,  in  representation  of  the  union  of  the 
lingam  and  yoni. 

Symbols  of  like  significance,  in  endless 
varieties  of  design  and  size,  were  common 
among  the  ancients ;  but  pre-eminent 
among  them  all  was  the  cross,  which,  in 
its  original  and  primitive  form,  was  merely 
a  simplification  of  the  various  designs 
used  to  represent  the  congress  of  the 
sexes.  These  designs,  in  their  general 
outline  and  shape,  consisted  of  an  upright 
portion,  connected  at  right  angles  with  a 
horizontal  base  ;  the  whole  resembling,  to 
a  greater  or  less  extent,  an  inverted  T 
(_|_) ;  and  this  simplified  form,  when  made 
of  stone  or  wood,  and  set  up  on  end,  in 


164  SEX   WORSHIP. 

order  to  be  more  plainly  exhibited,  re- 
sulted in  the  figure  of  the  cross. 

From  time  immemorial  the  cross  has 
been  used  as  a  religious  symbol.  There 
is  no  portion  of  the  earth  inhabited 
by  man  in  which  it  is  not  found,  and  there 
is  no  time  in  the  history  of  the  world — » 
back  even  to  the  ages  of  prehistoric 
man, — that  this  sacred  symbol  has  not 
been  in  existence.  It  was  universally  re- 
garded as  the  emblem  of  life,  of  regenera- 
tion, or  of  immortality,  and  was  ever  held 
in  the  highest  veneration  as  the  holiest  of 
all  symbols. 

It  appears  in  a  great  variety  of  shapes ; 
all  of  which,  however,  are  readily  reduci- 
ble to  the  simple,  primary  form.  The 
cross  of  four  arms  meeting  at  right  angles, 
and  commonly  called  the  Greek  cross,  is 
found  on  Assyrian  tablets,  on  Egyptian 
and  Persian  monuments,  and  on  Etruscan 
jars  and  vases  ;  while  the  Latin  cross,  the 
one  now  used  as  a  Christian  symbol,  is  to 
be  seen  on  equally  ancient  coins,  monu- 
ments and  pottery,  and  stone  images  of 


THE  SERPENT  AND  THE  CROSS.     165 

it  have  been  found  in  the  remains  of  tem- 
ples and  habitations  that  existed  hun- 
dreds and  even  thousands  of  years  before 
the  time  of  Christ. 

A  modified  form  of  this  cross  is  the 
cryx  ansata,  or  handled  cross,  so  called 
because  the  part  above  the  cross-beam  is 
in  the  form  of  an  oval  loop,  and  served  as 
a  handle  for  holding  the  image.  This 
cross  is  found  in  many  of  the  religious 
scenes  pictured  on  the  temples  of  ancient 
Egypt,  and  is  most  commonly  shown  in 
the  hands  of  Isis,  Osiris  and  other  divini- 
ties, while  images  of  it  are  not  infre- 
quently found  on  the  breasts  of  mummies. 
Assyrian  and  Babylonian  sculptures  fre- 
quently exhibit  this  form  of  the  cross,  and 
it  is  prominently  shown  on  some  of  the 
coins  found  in  the  temple  of  Serapis. 

Early  Phenician  coins  bear  the  design 
of  a  cross  on  one  side,  and  the  figure  of  a 
lamb  on  the  other,  while  on  some  of  them  is 
engraved  a  semi-circular  chain  of  beads 
with  the  cross  attached  ;  similar  in  every 
respect  to  the  modern  rosary.  Rosaries 


l66  SEX  WORSHIP. 

of  the  same  kind  are  also  found  among 
the  Buddhists  of  Japan  and  the  Lamas  of 
Thibet. 

Long  before  the  time  of  the  Romans 
or  of  their  predecessors,  the  Etruscans, 
who  had  reached  a  high  development,^ 
civilization  centuries  before  the  founda- 
tion of  Rome,  there  lived  in  the  northern 
plains  of  Italy  a  people  with  whom  the 
cross  was  a  religious  symbol.  History 
tells  us  nothing  of  these  people,  and  we 
know  nothing  of  them,  save  that  they 
lived  in  ignorance  of  art  and  civilization  ; 
that  they  dwelt  on  platforms  built  over 
lakes,  and  that  they  marked  the  resting- 
places  of  their  dead  with  an  image  of  the 
cross. 

In  the  cave  of  Elephanta,  near  Bombay, 
is  a  sculpturing  that  records  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  male  children  at  the  birth  of 
Krishna,  the  Hindoo  Savior,  who  lived 
more  than  a  thousand  years  before  Christ, 
and  over  the  head  of  the  executioner, 
who  is  surrounded  with  supplicating  moth- 
ers, is  a  cross. 


THE  SERPENT  AND  THE  CROSS.      l6/ 

When  the  Spaniards  came  to  America 
they  were  astonished  to  find  that  the  na- 
tives not  only  worshiped  a  crucified  Sav- 
ior and  a  Virgin  Mother,  but  that  the 
cross  was  their  most  sacred  symbol,  and 
typified  salvation  and  the  life  to  come. 
These  unaccountable  features  of  their  re- 
ligion led  to  the  invention  by  the  Chris- 
tians of  a  legend,  that  St.  Thomas  had 
miraculously  come  over  to  America  cen- 
turies before,  and  had  revealed  the  doc- 
trines of  the  church  to  the  Mexicans.  But 
this  legend  would  fail  to  account  for  the 
existence  of  the  cross  and  other  features 
of  Christianity  common  among  the  pre- 
historic races  of  the  Western  Continent, 
prior  to  the  Christian  era,  as  shown  by 
their  remains. 

The  cross  was  revered  among  the  na- 
tives of  Nicaragua,  Yucatan,  Guatemala, 
Paraguay,  Brazil,  and  Peru.  In  the  last 
named  country  the  Incas  worshiped  a 
cross  made  of  a  single  piece  of  jasper, 
while  crosses  of  white  marble  have 
been  found  among  the  ruins  of  ancient 


l68  SEX   WORSHIP. 

habitations  in  South  and  Central  Amer- 
icas.- 

In  the  midst  of  the  forests  of  Chiapas, 
in  Mexico,  is  a  ruined  city.  It  had  long 
been  dead  and  overgrown  at  the  time  of 
the  Spanish  conquest.  According  to  tra- 
dition, it  was  founded  nine  hundred  years 
before  Christ.  In  this  ancient  city  of 
Palenque  was  found  a  building  of  religious 
worship,  containing  several  altars,  and  at 
the  back  of  one  of  them  was  discovered 
a  stone  slab,  on  which  were  sculptured 
two  human  figures  standing  one  on  each 
side  of  a  cross,  to  which  one  of  the  figures 
was  extending  his  arms  and  offering  an  in- 
fant. 

The  earliest  and  most  primitive  form  of 
the  cross  was  one  in  the  shape  of  the  let- 
ter "]">  commonly  called  the  tan  cross. 
This  was  the  old  Scandinavian  symbol  of 
the  god  Thor,  and  is  found  among  the 
very  oldest  nations  of  the  world.  It  was 
the  mark  that  the  Israelites  put  on  their 
doorposts  with  the  blood  of  the  lamb,  on 
the  occasion  of  the  Passover,  and  in  the 


THE  SERPENT  AND  THE  CROSS.      169 

book  of  Ezekiel  (9  :  6)  we  read  that  this 
same  sacred  and  talismanic  sign  was  di- 
rected by  the  Lord  to  be  placed  on  the 
foreheads  of  the  men  of  Jerusalem  who 
were  to  be  spared  in  the  destruction  of 
the  city  :  "  Slay  utterly  old  and  young, 
both  maids  and  little  children  and  women  ; 
but  come  not  near  any  man  upon  whom 
is  the  mark." 

Crosses  of  this  shape  were  commonly 
used  in  the  religious  rites  of  the  ancients, 
and  it  was  customary  among  some  of  the 
eastern  races  for  the  women  to  sacrifice 
their  virginity  by  rupturing  the  hymen 
with  a  small  stone  cross  of  this  kind. 

Images  of  this  cross,  which  are  referred 
to  in  the  Bible  as  images  of  men,  figured 
in  the  idolatrous  worship  of  the  Israelites  ; 
and  the  use  to  which  they  were  put  may 
be  learned  from  the  i/th  verse  of  i6th 
chapter  of  Ezekiel. 

For  three  or  four  centuries  after  Christ 
the  tau  cross  was  employed  almost  exclu- 
sively by  the  followers  of  the  new  reli- 
gion, and  inscriptions  of  it,  as  well  as  of 


I/O  SEX   WORSHIP. 

the  crux  ansata,  may  be  seen  on  the  early 
tombs  and  monuments  of  the  Christians. 
At  first,  however,  the  use  of  the  cross  in 
any  form  was  not  permitted  by  the  church 
fathers,  because  it  was  a  pagan  symbol, 
and  its  introduction  into  Christian  cele- 
brations was  regarded  as  rank  profanation, 
and  sternly  forbidden. 

Though  it  is  popularly  believed  that 
our  present  familiar  church  symbol  repre- 
sents the  form  of  the  cross  on  which  Christ 
was  crucified,  there  is  absolutely  no  au- 
thority for  this  belief,  as  there  is  in  exist- 
ence no  authentic  record  describing  the 
form  of  the  cross  on  which  Jesus  was  ex- 
ecuted. These  instruments  of  execution 
were  of  various  shapes  ;  the  simplest  form 
being  an  upright  stake,  on  which  the  mal- 
efactor was  sometimes  impaled,  and  some- 
times fastened  with  cords  or  nails.  In 
the  other  forms,  the  transverse  beam  was 
frequently  separate  from  the  upright,  and 
this  was  the  only  part  borne  by  the  vic- 
tim to  the  place  of  execution.  Christ, 
therefore,  was  not  obliged  to  carry  the  en- 


THE  SERPENT  AND  THE  CROSS.      I /I 

tire  cross,  as  is  generally  supposed,  and 
represented  in  pictures,  but  simply  the 
cross-piece  which  was  fastened  to  the  up- 
right stake  after  he  reached  Calvary. 

From  the  fact  that  the  early  Christians 
used  the  tau  cross  as  a  symbol  of  the 
crucifixion,  it  is  probable  that  that  was 
the  form  of  cross  on  which  Christ  met 
his  death,  and  this  is  the  opinion  held  by 
most  scholars  and  investigators. 

Through  all  the  ages  of  humankind,  the 
cross  has  been  the  dearest  and  holiest  of 
emblems,  and  to  the  devout  worshiper  of 
to-day  it  is  the  same  glorious  symbol  of 
redemption  and  resurrection  that  it  was 
to  the  man  or  woman  of  five  thousand 
years  ago.  Primarily  representing  the 
divine  union  of  the  sexes,  it  has  ever  typi- 
fied regeneration  and  the  life  everlasting. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE    DIVINE    ACT. 

THE  universal  employment  of  the  cross  in 
all  ages,  as  a  symbol  of  life  and  immortality, 
demonstrates  most  conclusively  the  innate 
and  overmastering  reverence  of  mankind 
for  the  divine  act  of  generation, —  the  union 
of  the  sexes ; — not  only  because  of  the 
ecstatic  exaltation  that  it  inspired  (which, 
in  many  of  the  ancient  religious  and  philo- 
sophical writings,  is  regarded  as  a  mo- 
mentary union  with  God,  an  absorption 
into  the  Divine  Soul),  but  because  of  its 
wonderful  and  sublime  result.  It  was 
the  acme  of  human  bliss,  a  glimpse  of  the 
Divine  Nature,  the  immortalizing  act  of 
God.  It  was  this  which  first  awoke  in 
man  a  realization  of  the  soul,  a  belief  in 
the  immortality  of  life. 

To  the  philosophers  of  antiquity  man 
172 


THE  DIVINE  ACT.  173 

and  woman  in  their  individualities  were 
incomplete  creatures  ;  they  were  but  com- 
ponent parts  of  one  being.  They  had 
in  them  the  potentiality  of  reproduction 
and  immortality,  but  in  themselves  they 
were  barren  and  impotent.  It  was  only 
in  their  union,  in  their  reciprocal  and 
co-operative  activity,  that  they  became 
one, — a  perfect  soul.  Only  then  were 
they  capable  of  fulfilling  the  divine  will 
for  which  they  were  mutually  created. 

It  is  by  no  means  surprising,  therefore, 
that  this  wondrous  and  omnipotent  act 
should  have  been  made  the  object  of 
divine  worship  ;  and  to  this  day  the  union 
of  the  sexes  is  solemnized  with  religious 
ceremonies,  in  continued  recognition  of 
its  holiness.  According  to  law,  marriage 
is  simply  a  civil  contract,  a  mere  agree- 
ment to  live  together,  and  may  be  executed 
before  any  duly  qualified  officer  of  the 
law  ;  but  the  vast  majority  of  us  prefer  that 
this  contract  shall  be  made  the  occasion 
of  a  religious  celebration.  In  fact,  many 
believe  that  marriage  is  not  valid  unless 


1/4  SEX  WORSHIP. 

performed  by  a  representative  of  the 
Lord,  and  attended  with  blessings  and 
ceremonial  rites.  The  nuptial  tie  is  held 
to  be  a  divine  bond, — "  Those  whom  God 
hath  joined  together  let  no  man  put 
asunder." 

And,  after  all,  what  is  the  object  of  a 
marriage  ceremony  but  a  sanctification 
of  the  sexual  union  ?  Reverence  for  the 
sacredness  of  this  union  is  still  inherent 
in  mankind,  and,  because  of  its  holiness, 
cannot  be  consummated  until  properly 
sanctioned  and  hallowed  by  these  religious 
ceremonies.  To  engage  in  the  act  of  gen- 
eration in  the  absence  of  such  consecratory 
rites,  is  regarded  as  a  wrong  or  a  crime, 
even  as  it  was  four  and  five  thousand 
years  ago. 

In  all  ancient  religions  this  reverent  re- 
gard for  the  divine  act  of  creation  led  to 
the  adoption  of  various  rites  and  practices 
for  the  sanctification  of  sexual  unions,  not 
only  in  the  form  of  marriage,  but  of  pros- 
titution, which,  under  certain  circum- 
stances, was  considered  both  proper  and 


THE  DIVINE  ACT.  1/5 

holy.  Every  ancient  temple  had  connected 
with  it  a  number  of  consecrated  women, 
whose  office  it  was  to  submit  themselves 
to  the  embraces  of  any  man  who  might 
come  in  unto  them,  upon  the  payment  of 
a  specified  sum  ;  the  money  thus  received 
being  used  for  religious  purposes. 

To  the  minds  of  the  ancients  no  more 
appropriate  nor  holy  means  could  be  de- 
vised for  raising  money  for  the  mainte- 
nance of  the  temple  than  a  sanctified  in- 
dulgence in  the  Divine  Act.  It  was  the 
most  sublime  and  sacred  of  all  human 
functions — the  consummation  of  God's 
will, — and,  consequently,  God's  temple 
was  the  most  fitting  place  for  its  per- 
formance. 

One  of  the  earliest  allusions  to  these 
consecrated  temple-women  is  found  in 
the  book  of  Genesis,  *  where  we  are  told 
that  Tamar  deceived  her  father-in-law, 
Judah,  by  veiling  herself  after  the  manner 
of  the  women  of  the  temple,  and  sitting 
before  the  door  of  Enajim,  where  Judah 
*  Chapter  xxxviii. 


1/6  SEX   WORSHIP. 

beheld  her  and  went  in  unto  her.  The 
women  of  this  class  wore  a  special  attire, 
the  principal  feature  of  which  was  a  long 
veil,  and  conducted  themselves  quietly, 
not  seeking  customers,  but  waiting  for 
them  to  make  the  first  approach.  In  this 
guise  Tamar  succeeded  in  enticing  Judah, 
who  thought  she  was  a  temple  attendant 
and,  consequently,  one  with  whom  he 
was  permitted  to  associate.  The  ordi- 
nary harlot  of  the  Hebrews  was  an  out- 
cast, and  was  conspicuous  by  her  im- 
modest attire  and  bold  conduct,  it  being 
not  unusual  for  women  of  this  character 
to  rush  up  to  men  and  kiss  them  in 
public. 

Consecrated  prostitution  was  common 
among  all  the  early  nations  of  the  world, 
and  was  everywhere  regarded  in  the  most 
sacred  light.  Some  of  the  ancient  places 
of  worship  were  devoted  entirely  to  the 
this  holy  purpose,  as  appears  from  the 
fact  that  the  chief  temple  of  Babylon 
was  called  Bit-Shaggathu,  which  means, 
literally,  the  Temple  for  Copulation. 


THE  DIVINE  ACT. 

The  number  of  women  attached  to  some 
of  these  places  was  very  large  ;  the  temple 
of  Venus  at  Corinth  having  no  less  than 
a  thousand  sacred  prostitutes  connected 
with  it,  while  a  similar  number  belonged 
to  the  temple  of  the  same  goddess  at 
Eryx.  In  later  times,  among  the  Greeks 
and  Romans,  this  practice  lost  much  of 
its  religious  aspect,  degenerating  into 
sheer  licentiousness,  and  Juvenal  tells  us 
that  every  temple  in  Rome  was  practically 
a  licensed  brothel. 

This  practice,  in  its  religious  purity,  is 
still  in  vogue  in  many  parts  of  India, 
where  every  important  temple  belonging 
to  the  worshipers  of  what  is  known  as  the 
Sacteyan  faith,  has  attached  to  it  a  troop 
of  nautch  girls,  or  "  women  of  the  idol," 
who  are  considered  as  holy  devotees  of 
the  faith.  These  girls  are  chosen  by  the 
priests,  when  quite  young,  on  account  of 
their  beauty,  health  and  activity,  and  it 
is  regarded  as  a  rare  honor  by  parents 
to  have  a  daughter  selected  for  this  holy 
profession ;  even  high  officials  and  digni- 
12 


178  SEX  WORSHIP. 

taries  looking  upon  it  as  a  proud  distinc- 
tion. 

Among  some  of  the  Hindoo  sects  these 
consecrated  girls  are  considered  particu- 
larly sacred,  as  personifications  of  the 
goddess  Bhagavatee,  and  are  the  objects 
of  devout  adoration.  Many  persons  per- 
form the  worship  of  these  girls  daily. 
This  is  done  by  placing  the  girl,  generally 
in  a  nude  condition,  upon  a  seat  with 
flowers,  paints,  scented  water  and  fruits, 
and  addressing  to  her  prayers  and  expres- 
sions of  adoration.  She  is  then  presented 
with  costly  offerings  of  cloth,  ornaments 
and  wines,  and  at  the  conclusion  of  the 
ceremony,  which  is  a  lengthy  and  elabo- 
rate one,  the  worshiper  offers  incense,  and 
prostrates  himself  before  the  living  idol. 

After  reaching  sexual  maturity  these 
girls  are  initiated  into  the  mysteries  and 
duties  of  their  profession,  by  the  consum- 
mation of  their  marriage  to  the  god. 
Their  great  natural  beauty  is  heightened 
by  all  the  enticements  of  drapery,  jewels, 
seductive  arts  and  general  feminine  witch- 


THE  DIVINE  ACT.  179 

ery.  Of  all  their  arts  dancing  is  the  most 
highly  cultivated  ;  not,  however,  the  mode 
of  dancing  to  which  we  are  accustomed, 
but  consisting  of  a  pantomime  made  up 
of  the  most  graceful  and  alluring  dra- 
matic action,  gestures,  twistings  and  mar- 
velous undulatory  and  expressive  motions 
of  the  arms  and  legs  and  the  whole  body; 
a  performance  which  is  at  once  poetical, 
sensual  and  skillful,  and  constitutes  the 
chief  ostensible  employment  of  these 
nautch  girls. 

Their  true  office,  however,  is  to  secure 
revenue  for  the  sustenance  and  enrich- 
ment of  the  temple,  by  giving  themselves 
to  all  who  desire  and  are  willing  to  pay 
for  their  possession.  As  they  are  beauti- 
ful, and  accomplished  in  all  seductive 
and  passion-alluring  arts,  and  are  safe 
companions,  by  reason  of  their  perfect 
state  of  health,  and  as  it  is  considered  both 
honorable  and  holy  on  their  part,  as  well 
as  on  the  part  of  their  patrons,  thus  to 
swell  the  treasury  of  the  temple,  it  need 
not  be  wondered  that  they  are  much 


ISO  SEX  WORSHIP. 

sought  after  and  well  paid  for  this  part  of 
their  services. 

These  consecrated  women  are  treated 
with  the  greatest  reverence  and  respect ; 
while  a  Hindoo  woman  who  prostitutes 
herself  for  private  gain,  is  an  outcast  and 
bears  a  disgraceful  name  ;  a  further  illus- 
tration of  the  sanctity  attached  to  the 
Divine  Act,  and  of  the  pollution  and  profa- 
nation resulting  from  its  performance  in 
the  absence  of  religious  auspices. 

Among  many  of  the  ancients  it  was 
taught  that  sexual  indulgence  was  the  true 
and  only  aim  in  life,  and  that  it  was  a  re- 
ligious duty  every  man  and  woman  owed 
to  God,  the  Creator.  This  doctrine  was 
not  infrequently  carried  to  its  extreme ; 
nor  was  it  peculiar  alone  to  the  people  of 
antiquity,  for  we  find  that  in  the  Middle 
Ages  certain  sects  of  Christians  held  that 
true  blessedness  on  earth  consisted  in  the 
full  and  unstinted  enjoyment  of  venereal 
pleasures,  which  were  ordained  by  the 
Lord  as  the  divine  means  of  fulfilling  his 
glorious  purpose,  and  of  bringing  man- 


THE  DIVINE  ACT.  l8l 

kind  more  closely  into  communion  with 
himself  and  with  the  eternal  blessedness 
that  awaited  them  hereafter.  This  idea 
was  in  some  instances  carried  to  such  an 
extent,  that  not  only  were  gross  sensuality 
and  crime  permitted,  but  were  actually 
recommended,  if  necessary  for  the  attain- 
ment of  the  desired  end. 

According  to  one  of  these  sects,  known 
as  the  Gnostics,  the  greatest  of  all  sins  (in 
fact,  the  only  sin)  consisted  in  opposing 
the  appetites  and  passions.  These  were 
gifts  of  God  ;  they  were  given  to  man  for 
a  divine  purpose,  and  every  inclination 
inspired  by  them  must  be  fulfilled  as  a 
religious  duty  ;  a  tenet  which  found  many 
earnest  followers,  whose  practices  were 
fully  in  keeping  with  their  beliefs.  A 
custom  adopted  by  them  and  religiously 
carried  out,  was  that  which  required  the 
host  to  offer  his  wife  to  any  stranger 
or  friend  who  was  entertained  at  the 
house.  To  them  genuine  hospitality  con- 
sisted in  placing  at  the  disposal  of  the 
visitor  all  that  the  host  possessed,  at  the 


1 82  SEX  WORSHIP. 

same  time  affording  the  guest  an  oppor- 
tunity of  indulging  in  the  rite  prescribed 
by  the  sect. 

The  custom  in  this  case  was  noteworthy, 
because  of  its  adoption  and  practice  by 
civilized  men  ;  but  it  has  always  been  a 
common  feature  of  primitive  social  condi- 
tions, and  at  the  present  day  is  to  be  found 
among  many  of  the  uncivilized  people  of 
the  world.  Among  the  coast  tribes  of 
British  Columbia  the  present  of  a  wife 
is  one  of  the  greatest  honors  that  can  be 
shown  to  a  guest.  The  savage  offers  a 
visitor  his  wife  as  we  offer  him  a  seat  at 
the  table.  It  is  not  always  the  wife,  how- 
ever, that  is  offered ;  it  is  sometimes  a 
daughter,  a  sister,  or  a  servant.  Thus,  the 
people  of  Madagascar  warn  strangers  to 
behave  with  decency  to  their  wives,  while 
they  readily  and  willingly  offer  their 
daughters.  A  Tungas  will  give  his  daugh- 
ter for  a  time  to  any  friend  or  traveler  to 
whom  he  takes  a  fancy  ;  and  if  he  has  no 
daughter,  he  will  give  a  servant,  but  not 
his  wife  ;  while  in  other  tribes  wives  are 


THE  DIVINE  ACT.  183 

commonly  given  up  and  exchanged  in 
token  of  friendship, — customs  which  will 
no  doubt  remind  the  reader  of  the  practice 
in  ancient  Sparta  of  borrowing  and  loaning 
wives. 

The  worship  of  the  act  of  generation 
was  common  to  all  nations  of  the  world, 
and  formed  an  important  feature  of  many 
of  their  religious  celebrations  in  honor  of 
the  procreative  deities.  Homage  to  the 
Creator  consisted  not  only  in  offerings  and 
songs  of  praise,  but  in  the  ceremonial  ex- 
ercise of  the  sacred  function  of  generation 
itself;  for,  according  to  the  teachings  of 
all  religions,  no  act  can  be  more  holy 
than  that  done  in  imitation  of  the  Deity. 
To  be  as  God,  to  do  as  he  has  done,  to 
follow  in  his  footsteps,  are  the  golden  and 
fundamental  precepts  of  every  religious 
faith.  It  was  but  natural,  therefore,  that 
the  divine  act  of  creation  should  have 
been  devoutly  performed  as  a  religious 
rite,  in  the  pious  endeavor  to  thus  imitate 
the  Almighty  in  his  glorious  work  of 
creation  and  reproduction,  and  that  it 


1 84  SEX  WORSHIP. 

should   have   been   made   the   object   of 
special  worship. 

A  typical  example  of  the  manner  in 
which  this  ancient  rite  was  frequently 
performed,  is  to  be  found  at  this  day 
among  the  Kauchiluas  of  India.  Social 
restraints  are  wholly  obliterated  for  the 
time  being,  in  honor  of  the  Creator  and 
his  divine  functions.  The  women — maids 
and  matrons — deposit  their  bodices  in  a 
box,  each  garment  and  each  woman  being 
numbered  by  a  priest.  At  the  close  of 
the  ritual  of  song  and  prayer,  each  male 
worshiper  takes  a  bodice  from  the  box, 
and  the  woman  who  has  the  number  cor- 
responding to  that  on  the  garment,  even 
though  it  be  the  sister  or  daughter  of  the 
man  who  draws  it,  becomes  his  partner  for 
the  fulfillment  of  that  which  has  been  the 
subject  of  their  worship  and  praise  during 
the  preceding  ceremonies. 

This  rite  and  the  wild  excesses  that  are 
sometimes  incidental  to  it,  are  engaged  in 
by  the  most  devout  and  pure-minded  men 
and  women ;  the  majority  of  whom,  out- 


THE  DIVINE  ACT.  18$ 

side  of  this  ceremony  (which  they  consider 
a  sacred  and  solemn  observance  of  their 
faith),  are  as  modest  and  as  chaste  as  any 
of  their  more  enlightened  fellow-beings  of 
the  western  world. 

Indiscriminate  intercourse  of  this  kind 
was  practised  in  the  temples,  as  a  custom- 
ary feature  of  the  vernal  festivals  of  the 
Greeks  and  Romans,  held  in  honor  of 
the  procreative  deities,  and  was  condoned 
and  recommended  as  a  proper  and  appro- 
priate means  of  glorifying  the  gods  ;  while 
St.  Augustine  leads  us  to  infer  that  the 
celebration  of  the  Eucharist  among  the 
early  Christians  was  not  infrequently  con- 
cluded in  a  like  manner. 

Festivals  of  a  similar  kind  were  cele- 
brated throughout  Egypt,  in  honor  of 
Isis  and  Osiris,  the  deities  of  procreation. 
The  celebration  at  Mendes  was  particu- 
larly notev\K)rthy,  for  it  was  there  that  the 
sacred  goat  was  employed  in  the  ceremo- 
nies. These  were  of  an  intensely  religious 
character,  inducing  a  high  state  of  excite- 
ment and  enthusiasm,  at  the  climax  of 


1 86  SEX  WORSHIP. 

which  many  of  the  women  offered  them- 
selves to  the  goat,  as  the  divine  represent- 
ative of  the  Deity. 

We  are  told  by  Herodotus  that  the  goat 
accepted  this  unnatural  copulation,  and 
that  the  union  took  place  publicly  in  the 
assembly,  being  regarded  by  all  as  a  most 
holy  and  sacred  performance  ;  and  the 
women  who  thus  gave  their  persons  were 
held  in  particular  reverence  thereafter  as 
the  recipients  of  divine  favor.  This  par- 
ticular feature  of  the  celebration  was  not, 
however,  confined  to  the  women,  as  is 
shown  by  frequent  references  in  ancient 
records,  and  by  Egyptian  sculptures  rep- 
resenting the  union  of  men  and  female 
goats. 

As  was  stated  before,  such  rites  were 
performed  through  a  truly  devout  and  re- 
ligious desire  to  honor  the  Deity  and  win 
his  favor,  by  imitating  the  divine  act  by 
which  life  is  regenerated  and  immortalized. 
Among  some  of  the  ancient  peoples,  this 
divine  generative  function  was  typified  by 
the  public  union  of  a  man  and  woman  ;  a 


THE  DIVINE  ACT.  187 

performance  which  was  attended  with 
elaborate  religious  ceremonies,  and  consti- 
tuted the  most  sacred  and  most  holy  fea- 
ture of  their  worship. 

This  particular  rite  is  still  practised 
by  some  of  the  phallic-worshiping  sects 
of  India,  and  is  to  be  met  with  among 
the  natives  of  some  of  the  Pacific  islands. 
A  navigator,  writing  of  one  of  their 
religious  festivals,  says:  "A  young  man 
of  fine  size  and  perfect  proportions  per- 
formed the  creative  act  with  a  little 
miss  of  eleven  or  twelve  before  the  as- 
sembled congregation,  among  whom  were 
the  leading  people  of  rank  of  both 
sexes,  without  any  thought  of  observing 
otherwise  than  an  appropriate  religious 
duty." 

Accounts  of  many  other  ceremonies 
celebrated  in  honor  of  the  divine  procrea- 
tive  function,  might  be  given,  but  those 
already  cited  are  sufficient  to  demonstrate 
how  general  and  how  persistent  through 
all  time  has  been  man's  reverence  for  the 
immortalizing  act  of  generation,  and  that 


188  SEX   WORSHIP. 

in  every  age  and  in  every  country  man- 
kind has  endeavored  to  honor  and  glorify 
the  Author  of  Life  by  appropriate  relig- 
ious ceremonies. 


CHAPTER  X. 

REGENERATION. 

IN  all  mythologies  and  religious  creeds 
the  regeneration  of  life  figures  as  a  promi- 
nent and  fundamental  feature.  Clothed 
in  a  countless  variety  of  myths,  beliefs 
and  doctrines,  this  glorious  phase  of  na- 
ture and  of  life  has  from  time  imme- 
morial been  the  object  of  man's  joyous 
worship,  as  a  typification  of  immortality 
and  of  the  redemption  of  mankind. 
Through  all  ages  the  nations  of  the  world 
have  celebrated  the  renewal  of  life  with 
gladsome  religious  festivals  ;  festivals  that, 
in  various  modifications,  are  retained  to 
this  day,  and  form  the  chief  and  most 
inspiring  feature  of  modern  religious 
worship. 

There  is  not  a  time  in  the  history  of 
the  human  race  of  which  we  have  any  rec- 
ord, that  mankind  did  not  celebrate  the 
189 


igo  SEX  WORSHIP. 

vernal  reanimation  of  nature  ;  the  resur- 
rection of  life.  After  a  glorious  reign  in 
the  heavens,  during  which  the  earth 
revels  in  joyousness  and  beauty,  the  sun 
enters  the  wintry  realms  of  the  southern 
sky,  leaving  the  world  cold  and  cheerless. 
But  after  a  short  though  dreary  absence, 
during  which  all  nature  mourns  and  weeps, 
he  reappears  in  the  majesty  of  his  light 
and  power,  and  brings  back  to  earth  the 
joy  and  the  strength  that  have  lain  cold 
and  dead  beneath  the  ban  of  winter.  The 
world,  the  Earth  Mother,  is  quickened 
by  the  vitalizing  power  of  the  sun,  the 
Father.  Life  is  re-born.  The  earth  once 
more  awakes  with  renewed  vitality  and 
beauty.  All  the  world,  all  nature  is  a 
triumphant  symbolization  of  life's  regen- 
eration. 

To  primitive  man  these  seasonal  events 
were  of  the  most  vital  import.  To  him  they 
meant  more  than  mere  natural  phenomena. 
They  were  the  supreme  manifestations 
of  the  universal  life  in  its  wondrous  phases 
of  birth,  death,  and  resurrection.  Spring, 


REGENERATION.  19! 

summer,  autumn  and  winter,  the  months, 
the  day  and  the  night,  the  earth,  the  sun 
and  the  multitude  of  features  and  phenom- 
ena incident  to  the  annual  revolution  of 
the  earth  became  living  entities,  personi- 
fications of  beings  and  deities,  whose  re- 
lationship one  to  the  other,  and  the  parts 
they  played  in  the  great  drama  of  nature, 
gave  rise  to  those  myths  and  legends, 
that,  as  before  stated,  constitute  the  basis 
of  every  system  of  mythology  and  every 
theological  creed. 

The  well-known  myths  of  the  Greeks, 
Romans  and  Scandinavians,  and  our  famil- 
iar nursery  tales — "  Little  Red  Riding 
Hood,"  "  Cinderella,"  "  Sleeping  Beauty," 
and  many  more,  —  together  with  the 
legends  of  theology,  are  all  traceable  to  the 
simple  allegories  invented  by  early  man  as 
his  solution  of  the  manifestations  of  nature. 

Darkness  and  light,  winter  and  summer  ; 
the  dawn  of  the  morning,  and  the  advent 
of  spring ;  the  triumph  of  day  over  night, 
of  life  over  death — these  are  the  basic 
themes  of  all  nature-stories  and  dramas. 


192  SEX  WORSHIP. 

Gods,  demigods,  monsters,  spirits,  angels, 
animals,  men,  women  and  children,  all 
serve  their  suggestive  parts  in  the  allegor- 
ization  of  the  forces  and  phenomena  of 
life. 

In  many  instances  the  sun,  or  life,  in  its 
garb  of  summer,  was  personified  as  a 
youth,  who,  like  Baldur,  the  Scandi- 
navian summer-god,  is  slain  through  the 
treachery  of  the  evil  being  representing 
the  frost  or  the  chilling  month  of  De- 
cember, and  is  carried  to  the  under-world, 
there  to  remain  as  a  captive  of  the  god  of 
winter,  but  eventually  to  return  to  earth 
and  once  more  gladden  it  with  his  pres- 
ence. 

Again,  as  in  the  myth  connected 
with  the  Eleusinian  mysteries  of  the 
Greeks,  life  is  a  maiden — Persephone, — 
who  is  carried  away  by  Pluto  to  the  realm 
of  shades,  but  through  the  supplications 
of  her  mother,  Demeter,  the  goddess  of 
the  earth,  she  is  permitted  to  return  to 
the  world  every  summer. 

In  addition  to  these  more  simple  and  ob- 


REGENERATION.  193 

vious  myths  the  great  solar  phenomena 
gave  rise  to  allegories  of  a  more  elaborate 
and  theological  character.  The  sun  was 
the  almighty  Creator  himself,  in  the  form 
of  a  divine  Savior,  coming  to  redeem  the 
world  from  its  darkness.  The  morning  star 
was  his  celestial  herald,  while  the  night  was 
a  cruel  tyrant, who  feared  the  advent  of  him 
who  would  rule  the  earth  with  light,  and 
sought  to  destroy  him  by  extinguishing 
all  the  lights,  all  the  stars,  of  heaven. 
The  twelve  months,  or  the  twelve  signs  of 
the  zodiac,  were  the  attendants  of  the 
Redeemer  in  his  life  journey,  during  which 
he  glorified  the  earth  with  his  potent  and 
sublime  presence.  The  twelfth  month 
was  his  betrayer,  and  through  this  be- 
trayer he  met  his  doom  at  the  winter 
solstice,  and  descended  into  the  abode  of 
death,  only  to  rise  again,  however,  in  all 
his  glory  and  supremacy  of  power  for  the 
eternal  salvation  of  men. 

This  version  we  find  represented  in  the 
legends  of  Osiris,  Mithras,  Buddha,  Krish- 
na and    all    the    other    virgin-born    Re- 
13 


194  SEX  WORSHIP. 

deemers  of  the  world.  Though  widely 
separated,  both  as  to  time  and  place, 
each  of  them  is  said  to  have  been  born 
on  the  day  corresponding  to  our  twenty- 
fifth  of  December  ;  for  it  is  then  that  the 
sun  is  born.  The  winter  solstice  is  past, 
and  the  great  luminary  begins  his  revivi- 
fying journey  northward. 

The  first  moment  after  midnight  of  De- 
cember 24th  all  the  nations  of  the  earth, 
as  if  in  common  accord,  celebrated  the  ac- 
couchement of  the  Queen  of  Heaven,  or 
the  Virgin  Mother,  and  the  birth  of  a  god. 
It  was  not,  however,  until  about  the  fifth 
century  of  the  Christian  era  that  this  date 
was  generally  agreed  upon  as  the  birthday 
of  Jesus ;  some  having  chosen  the  ipth  of 
April,  others  the  2oth  of  May,  and  still 
others  the  5th  of  January.  It  was  prob- 
ably the  confusion  attendant  upon  such 
a  disagreement  that  led  the  fathers  of  the 
church  to  designate  the  25th  of  December 
as  the  date  of  the  birth  of  Christ  ;  that 
being  the  day  upon  which  all  other  na- 
tions celebrated  a  similar  event. 


REGENERATION.  195 

In  India  the  day  is  the  occasion  of 
universal  rejoicing.  The  houses  are  dec- 
orated with  garlands,  and  friends  ex- 
change presents,  in  conformity  with  a 
custom  of  great  antiquity.  Among  the 
ancient  Persians  it  was  a  day  of  celebra- 
tion in  honor  of  their  Lord  and  Savior, 
Mithras.  The  ancient  Egyptians  also 
observed  this  day  as  the  anniversary  of 
the  birth  of  their  Savior,  Horus,  who,  with 
his  virgin-mother,  Isis,  was  worshiped  two 
thousand  years  before  the  time  of  Moses. 
The  greatest  festival  among  the  Scandi- 
navians was  at  this  time  of  the  year,  when 
the  Jul,  or  Yule,  was  celebrated  in  honor 
of  Freyr,  the  son  of  their  supreme  god. 

It  is,  perhaps  in  the  story  of  Krishna, 
the  Hindoo  Savior,  that  we  find  the  most 
elaborate  and  at  the  same  time  the  most 
closely  allied  version  of  the  primitive 
sun-myth.  He  was  conceived  by  the  Holy 
Spirit,  and  born  of  the  Virgin  Devaki,  in 
a  cave,  about  three  thousand  years  ago. 
His  advent  was  heralded  by  a  brilliant 
star,  and  by  the  joyful  paeans  of  angels, 


196  SEX    WORSHIP. 

or  spirits,  who  appeared  in  the  heavens 
and  announced  the  glad  tidings  to  the 
wondering  and  awe-struck  mortals.  Upon 
the  announcement  of  his  birth  lowly 
herdsmen  and  great  prophets  came  and 
prostrated  themselves  before  the  divine 
child,  while  at  the  same  time  the  tyrant 
Kansa  ordered  the  killing  of  all  the  male 
infants,  out  of  fear  for  this  new-born  ruler  ; 
yet  the  Savior  miraculously  escaped. 

Accompanied  by  his  disciples,  to  whom 
he  was  known  as  Jezeus,  he  wandered 
about  the  country,  proclaiming  peace  and 
salvation,  preaching  the  doctrine  of  love 
and  humility,  healing  the  sick,  restoring 
the  maimed,  the  deaf  and  the  blind,  and 
raising  the  dead  ;  until,  after  many  perse- 
cutions, and  through  the  treachery  of  one 
of  his  disciples,  he  gave  up  his  life  in  di- 
vine atonement  for  the  sins  of  the  world. 
He  met  his  death  on  the  cross,  and  the 
crucifix  became  his  sacred  emblem  ;  rep- 
resentations of  the  crucifixion  being  not 
uncommon  among  the  ancient  sculptur- 
ings  of  India,  and  pictorial  records  have 


REGENERATION. 

been  found  showing  the  resurrected 
Krishna  with  marks  of  holes  in  his  hands 
and  feet. 

At  the  hour  of  his  death  the  sun  was 
darkened,  the  sky  rained  fire  and  ashes, 
and  those  that  were  dead  walked  again 
upon  the  earth.  He  descended  into  the 
abode  of  departed  spirits,  and  on  the  third 
day  he  rose  from  the  dead  and  ascended 
bodily  into  heaven,  from  whence,  accord- 
ing to  his  own  prophecy,  he  will  come 
again  on  the  last  day  of  the  world,  when 
the  ages  shall  have  been  completed  ;  and 
at  his  coming  the  sun  and  the  moon  will 
be  darkened,  the  earth  will  tremble,  and 
the  stars  fall  from  the  firmament. 

The  ancient  springtime  festivals,  cele- 
brated in  honor  of  the  resurrected  life, 
reached  their  highest  and  most  elaborate 
development  in  Egypt,  Greece  and  Rome, 
and  were  commonly  known  as  the  "  mys- 
teries." These  mysteries  constituted  the 
most  important  and  sacred  feature  of  an- 
cient religious  worship,  and  have  left  their 
impress  on  every  age  and  generation,  down 


198  SEX   WORSHIP. 

to  the  present  day,  in  the  shape  of  mystic 
orders  and  secret  societies. 

They  were  so  called  because  of  the  se- 
crecy in  which  many  of  their  rites  were 
conducted,  and  because  of  the  deep  and 
holy  mystery  attached  to  them.  This  love 
of  the  mysterious  is  inherent  in  the  human 
race  and,  as  may  be  imagined,  was  exhib- 
ited in  its  most  intense  form  among  the 
emotional  and  superstitious  people  of 
antiquity. 

The  symbols  and  rites  of  their  celebra- 
tions were  invested  by  the  priests  with  a 
mystical  and  occult  significance,  unintelli- 
gible to  the  masses  and  confided  only  to 
those  who,  after  most  severe  trials  of 
faith  and  endurance,  were  found  worthy 
of  initiation  into  the  divine  secrets.  They 
were  then  made  acquainted  with  the  ex- 
alted and  abstruse  doctrines  evolved  by 
the  priesthood  from  the  simple  worship  of 
nature ;  doctrines  that  constituted  a  the- 
osophy  of  the  most  transcendent  and 
spiritual  character ;  grand  and  sublime  in 
the  loftiness  of  its  teachings  and  ideality 


REGENERATION.  199 

and  in  the  beauty  of  its  poetic  concep- 
tions. 

One  of  the  principal  and  most  sacredly 
guarded  ceremonial  features  of  these  mys- 
teries, was  that  known  as  the  Holy  Sacra- 
ment, the  adoration  of  the  deity  by  eating 
his  flesh  and  drinking  his  blood,  in  the 
form  of  consecrated  bread  and  wine,  which 
were  passed  about  by  white-robed  priests 
and  solemnly  partaken  of  by  the  initiates 
in  holy  communion. 

The  eating  of  the  body  and  blood  of 
a  god  in  this  symbolical  manner  was 
a  common  religious  rite  in  all  parts  of 
the  ancient  world,  including  the  west- 
ern continent,  where,  long  prior  to  its 
discovery  by  Europeans,  the  Mexicans 
and  Peruvians  celebrated  what  they  called 
the  Most  Holy  Feast,  at  which  they 
ate  the  flesh  of  their  god  and  drank  his 
blood  ;  not  infrequently  partaking  of  real 
flesh  and  blood,  instead  of  the  allegorical 
substitutes. 

In  the  primitive  significance  of  this  sac- 
rament, as  celebrated  in  the  Eleusinian 


200  SEX   WORSHIP. 

mysteries,  the  bread  represented  Ceres, 
the  goddess  of  corn,  while  in  a  like  man- 
ner the  wine  represented  Bacchus,  the  god 
of  wine,  who  gave  his  blood  to  men  for 
their  sustenance;  so  that,  prior  to  the 
doctrine  of  transubstantiation,  which  only 
became  necessary  in  the  higher  develop- 
ment of  formal  worship  and  theological 
subtleties,  the  bread  and  wine  were  wor- 
shiped in  the  simple  belief  that  they  were 
the  true  body  and  blood,  the  actual  sub- 
stance, of  the  Mother  and  Father  of  Life. 
This  distinction  of  the  two  elements, 
and  their  ascription  to  separate  deities, 
is  also  found  in  the  records  of  the  an- 
cient Egyptian  mysteries,  though  their 
significance  was  reversed  in  accordance 
with  the  symbolism  of  phallic  worship. 
The  wine  represented  Isis,  or  the  female 
element ;  while  the  bread,  which  was 
made  in  the  form  of  a  round,  flat  cake,  in 
representation  of  the  sun,  was  the  symbol 
of  Osiris,  or  male  principle  ;  the  partaking 
of  both  being  significant  of  regeneration, 
or  of  the  life  to  come. 


REGENERATION.  2OI 

The  mysteries  of  Isis  and  Osiris,  of 
Egypt,  the  mysteries  of  the  Babylonians, 
the  Eleusinian  mysteries  of  the  Greeks, 
the  mysteries  of  Bacchus  and  Venus  at 
Rome,  together  with  many  others  of  lesser 
importance,  were  all  festivals  in  celebra- 
tion of  the  new-born  life  and  the  regen- 
erative union  of  the  creative  elements  of 
nature.  They  all  set  forth  and  illustrated 
by  solemn  and  impressive  rites  and  mys- 
tical symbols  the  grand  phenomena  of 
nature  in  its  creation  and  perpetuation  of 
life. 

Among  the  Greeks  and  Romans  these 
vernal  festivals  were  held  in  honor  of 
Bacchus,  or  Dionysos,  the  god  of  life. 
He  was  called  the  father  of  gods  and 
men  ;  "  the  Begotten  of  Love  "  (having 
been  born  of  a  virgin  through  immaculate 
love),  and  was  frequently  represented  by 
the  Romans  under  the  name  and  form  of 
Priapus. 

Considering  the  general  state  of  reserve 
and  restraint  in  which  the  Grecian  women 
lived,  we  may  gain  some  idea  of  the  high 


202  SEX   WORSHIP. 

regard  in  which  these  observances  were 
held,  and  the  powerful  influence  they  ex- 
ercised over  the  mind  and  emotions,  when 
we  note  to  what  a  degree  of  extravagance 
the  religious  enthusiasm  of  these  women 
was  carried  on  such  occasions,  particularly 
at  the  celebration  of  the  Eleusinian  mys- 
teries and  the  Dionysia. 

The  gravest  matrons  and  proudest  prin- 
cesses apparently  laid  aside  all  dignity  and 
modesty,  and  vied  with  each  other  in  rev- 
elry. They  ran  screaming  through  the 
woods  and  over  mountains,  fantastically 
dressed  or  half  naked,  their  hair  inter- 
woven with  ivy  and  vine  leaves  and  not 
infrequently  with  living  serpents,  that 
twined  about  their  heads  and  necks. 
Their  religious  excitement  sometimes 
became  so  great,  that  they  ate  raw  flesh, 
tearing  living  animals  to  pieces  with  their 
teeth,  and  devouring  them  while  yet  warm 
and  palpitating. 

On  these  festal  occasions  they  likewise 
repaired  to  the  temples  or  other  places 
rendered  sacred  by  the  presence  of  the 


REGENERATION.  203 

god's  image,  and  there  made  offerings  to 
the  divine  emblem,  by  wreathing  the  phal- 
lus with  flowers  and  anointing  it  with 
specially  prepared  wine.  Their  devotions 
were  always  accompanied  with  music  and 
wine,  which  were  considered  the  sacred 
means  of  exalting  and  raising  the  mind  to  a 
closer  communion  with  the  Divine  Power ; 
and  these  enthusiastic  devotees  willingly 
gave  themselves  up  to  the  embraces  of  the 
no  less  enthusiastic  worshipers  of  the  op- 
posite sex,  in  the  nocturnal  ceremonies, 
that  had  for  their  object  the  glorification 
of  the  deity  by  an  indulgence  in  the  di- 
vine act  of  generation. 

The  Romans  borrowed  their  religious 
forms  and  rites  from  the  Greeks,  and  while 
they  did  not  imbibe  the  poetry,  sentiment 
and  enthusiasm  that  characterized  the 
Grecian  festivities,  they  were  none  the  less 
devout  and  sincere.  Their  Bacchanalian 
mysteries  were  celebrated  in  the  Temple  of 
Bacchus,  at  Rome,  and  in  the  sacred  woods 
near  the  Tiber.  At  first  these  ceremonies 
were  held  in  the  daytime,  and  were  at- 


204  SEX   WORSHIP. 

tended  only  by  the  women,  who  were 
initiated  into  the  mysteries  by  the  priests; 
but  they  were  subsequently  celebrated  at 
night,  and  the  initiation  of  young  men 
was  permitted,  with  the  result  that  in  a 
short  time  it  led  to  the  admittance  of 
those  who  were  not  in  sympathy  with  the 
religious  spirit  of  the  occasion,  but  took 
advantage  of  the  opportunity  for  indul- 
gence in  licentious  practices  and  other 
crimes,  which  were  speedily  confounded 
with  the  true  object  of  the  festival,  and 
finally  led  to  the  abolishment  of  the  cele- 
bration by  a  decree  of  the  Senate. 

The  Liberalia,  the  Floralia,  and  the 
festival  of  Venus  were  popular  vernal 
festivals,  celebrated  by  the  Romans  in 
honor  of  the  procreative  deities  and  their 
vitalizing  function,  as  manifested  by  the 
glorious  regeneration  of  life  upon  the 
earth.  While  these  festivals  were  of  a 
religious  character,  they  were  given  up  to 
mirth,  jollity  and  public  amusements,  ac- 
companied by  a  general  relaxation  of  the 
laws  and  of  social  proprieties,  as  a  fitting 


REGENERATION.  2O$ 

manner  of  celebrating  the  return  of  life 
and  gladness. 

These  springtime  festivals,  in  celebration 
of  resurrected  life  and  the  generative 
powers  of  nature,  were  common  among 
all  nations  from  the  earliest  times,  and  it 
is  in  some  of  the  particular  forms  of  these 
celebrations  that  we  find  the  origin  of 
some  of  the  features  of  our  own  joyous 
festival  —  Easter.  The  name  itself  is 
derived  from  the  old  Teutons  and  Saxons, 
whose  Queen  of  Heaven,  or  goddess  of 
life,  was  called  Eastre.  The  month  of 
April  was  dedicated  to  this  deity,  and  a 
feast  of  rejoicing  was  held  in  her  honor  at 
that  time  of  the  year.  It  was  customary 
to  make  presents  of  eggs,  which  were 
brightly  decorated  or  colored ;  the  egg 
being  the  sacred  emblem  of  the  resurrec- 
tion of  life,  and  therefore  used  as  an  offer- 
ing to  the  goddess  on  this  occasion. 

The  early  Germans  and  Franks  also  pre- 
pared a  special  kind  of  bread  or  bun,  that 
was  eaten  at  this  time,  as  specially  sacred 
to  Eastre  ;  a  springtime  custom  that  was 


206  SEX   WORSHIP. 

likewise  common  among  the  Egyptians, 
who  impressed  the  figure  of  a  cross  upon 
their  cakes. 

Eggs  and  buns  figured  also  in  the  Chal- 
dean rites  connected  with  the  worship  of 
the  goddess  of  spring,  the  Renewer  of  Life, 
upwards  of  four  thousand  years  ago,  and 
were  familiar  features  in  the  worship  of 
the  Queen  of  Heaven,  Ishtar,  as  early  as 
the  days  of  Cecrops,  the  founder  of 
Athens,  fifteen  hundred  years  before 
Christ. 

These  ancient  buns,  which  were  offered 
to  the  Queen  of  Heaven,  and  used  in  sacri- 
fices to  other  generative  deities,  were 
formed  in  the  shape  of  the  reproductive 
organs  ;  a  custom  to  which  reference  is 
made  in  the  book  of  Jeremiah,  where  the 
prophet  says,  "  The  children  gather  wood, 
the  fathers  kindle  the  fire,  and  the  women 
knead  the  dough  to  make  cakes  to  the 
Queen  of  Heaven." 

The  practice  of  making  Easter  buns  in 
this  shape  was  common  among  some  of 
the  early  Christians,  and  prevails  in  certain 


REGENERATION.  2O/ 

parts  of  France  to  this  day.  Small  cakes 
in  the  shape  of  a  phallus  are  made  as  of- 
ferings at  Easter-time,  and  carried  about 
and  presented  from  house  to  house. 

On  the  festival  of  Palm  Sunday,  some- 
times known  as  the  Feast  of  the  Privy 
Members,  it  was  customary,  not  long  since 
in  certain  French  provinces,  for  each  of  the 
women  and  children  in  the  procession  to 
carry  a  phallus,  made  of  bread,  attached  to 
the  end  of  a  palm  branch.  These  phalli 
were  subsequently  blessed  by  the  priests, 
and  preserved  by  the  women  during  the 
year. 

Nearly  all  of  these  ancient  vernal  festi- 
vals and  mysteries  celebrated  the  return 
or  the  resurrection  of  a  god — the  theolog- 
ical allegory  of  the  regeneration  of  life. 
As  has  been  already  stated,  all  of  the 
world's  redeemers  are  recorded  to  have 
risen  from  the  dead,  after  remaining  in  the 
tomb  for  a  period  of  three  days.  These 
three  days  primarily  represented  the  three 
months  intervening  rJetween  the  winter 
solstice  and  the  vernal  equinox,  during 


2O8  SEX  WORSHIP. 

which  time  the  sun  has  lost  his  power, 
and  the  world  is  without  its  great  life- 
giver. 

Krishna,  Buddha,  Zoroaster,  Osiris, 
Mithras,  Horus,  Bacchus,  Tammuz,  Attis, 
Quetzalcoatl  and  many  more,  rose  again 
on  the  third  day,  after  having  died  for  the 
sake  of  the  world,  and  ascended  into 
heaven.  The  ceremonies  and  observances 
in  commemoration  of  this  event  always 
took  place  in  the  spring,  and  were  of  the 
same  general  character  in  all  ages  and 
among  all  nations. 

The  death  and  resurrection  of  Tammuz, 
or  Adonis,  who,  under  a  variety  of  names 
and  forms,  appears  in  many  legends,  was 
annually  celebrated  at  the  beginning  of 
spring  by  the  Syrians,  Babylonians,  and 
other  nations.  In  the  mysteries  connected 
with  this  celebration  an  image  of  the  Sav- 
ior was  carried  with  great  solemnity  to  a 
tomb,  and  for  two  days  mournful  rites 
were  celebrated  in  commemoration  of  his 
trials,  sacrifice  and  death,  while  on  the 
third  day  they  gave  place  to  loud  hosan- 


REGENERATION.  209 

nas  and  feasts  of  rejoicing :  "  The  Lord 
is  risen  and  lives  again !  Hail  to  the 
Dove,  the  Restorer  of  Light !  " 

The  fact  that  the  children  of  Israel  took 
part  in  the  celebration  of  these  mysteries, 
is  recorded  in  the  book  of  Ezekiel  (8  :  14), 
where  the  prophet  exclaims,  "  Behold, 
there  sat  women  weeping  for  Tammuz  ! " 
And  impartial  students  of  the  Bible  are 
not  unaware  of  the  fact,  that  in  many  in- 
stances the  supposed  prophetic  references 
to  Christ  by  King  David  and  the  proph- 
ets, when  they  make  mention  of  a  Son 
of  God,  a  Redeemer,  or  He  who  sits  at 
the  right  hand  of  the  Lord,  are  simply 
references  to  this  Savior,  Tammuz,  or 
Adonis,  whose  worship  had  for  centuries 
been  an  established  religious  custom,  and 
the  story  of  whose  birth,  death  and  resur- 
rection was  familiarly  referred  to,  in  ex- 
emplification of  the  immortality  of  life  or 
of  the  redemption  of  mankind. 

In  their  mysteries  the  ancient  Egyp- 
tians celebrated  each  spring  the  death, 
resurrection  and  ascension  of  Osiris,  the 
14 


210  SEX   WORSHIP. 

Creator  and  Savior  of  men.  The  cere- 
monies attendant  upon  this  celebration 
were  of  a  most  holy  character,  invested 
with  the  deepest  mystery  and  sanctity. 
The  sacred  ark  was  reverently  and  tear- 
fully worshiped,  as  the  sepulcher  of  the 
departed  god  ;  and  the  lamentations  and 
mourning  for  his  decease  marked  the  be- 
ginning of  the  mysteries.  On  the  third 
day  of  his  death  the  priests,  in  solemn 
procession,  proceeded  to  the  river  in  the 
night,  carrying  the  ark  with  them.  Wait- 
ing there  until  the  morning  they  welcomed 
the  rising  sun  with  a  loud  and  joyous 
shout,  exclaiming  "  Osiris  is  risen  !  " 

It  matters  not  to  what  race  nor  to  what 
age  we  turn,  we  ever  find  the  same  rever- 
ent regard  for  the  regeneration  of  life ; 
and  through  its  multitude  of  myths, 
legends,  creeds  and  celebrations,  however 
extravagant  or  inconsistent  they  may  ap- 
pear, we  trace  the  constant  aim  of  man- 
kind to  glorify  the  Creator,  and  Savior  of 
the  world,  as  primarily  typified  by  the 
sun  ;  while  beneath  them  all  lies  the  uni- 


REGENERATION.  211 

versal,  actuating  reverence  for  the  great 
and  unsolvable  mystery  of  life — the  foun- 
dation and  the  source  of  all  religious  wor- 
ship. 


APPENDIX. 


LIST  OF  PRINCIPAL  WORKS  ON  PHALLICISM. 

The  Anacalypsis.  An  attempt  to  draw 
aside  the  Veil  of  the  Saitic  Isis,  or  an  Inquiry 
into  the  Origin  of  Languages,  Nations 
and  Religions. — GODFREY  HIGGINS  ;  privately 
printed. 

Ancient  Faiths  Embodied  in  Ancient  Names. 
— THOMAS  INMAN,  M.  D. 

Ancient  Pagan  and  Modern  Christian  Sym- 
bolism Exposed  and  Explained. — THOMAS 
INMAN,  M.D. 

Ancient  Pillars,  Stones  and  Cairns. — THOMAS 
INMAN,  M.D. 

Ancient  Symbol  Worship — Influence  of  the 
Phallic  Idea  in  the  Religions  of  Antiquity. — 
H ODDER  M.  WESTROPP  and  C.  STANILAND 
WAKE. 

Crux  Ansata  (Handled  Cross). — ANON.  ; 
privately  printed. 

Cultus  Arborum — A  Descriptive  Account 
213 


214  APPENDIX. 

of  Phallic  Tree  Worship — ANON  ;  privately 
printed. 

A  Discourse  on  the  Worship  of  Priapus, 
and  its  Connection  with  the  Mystic  The- 
ology of  the  Ancients. — RICHARD  PAYNE 
KNIGHT.  To  which  is  added  an  Essay  on 
the  Worship  of  the  Generative  Powers  dur- 
ing the  Middle  Ages  of  Western  Europe. — 
ANON.  ;  privately  printed. 

Eleusinian  and  Bacchic  Mysteries. — 
THOMAS  TAYLOR. 

Fishes,  Flowers  and  Fire  as  Elements  and 
Deities  in  the  Phallic  Faiths  and  Worship 
of  the  Ancient  Religions. — ANON.  ;  privately 
printed. 

The  Hindu  Pantheon. — EDWARD  MOOR. 

The  Masculine  Cross. — ANON. 

Nature  Worship,  or  an  Account  of  Phallic 
Faiths  and  Practices. — ANON.  ;  privately 
printed. 

Ophiolatreia. — An  Account  of. the  Rites 
and  Mysteries  connected  with  Serpent  Wor- 
ship.— ANON.  ;  privately  printed. 

Origin  of  Pagan  Idolatry. — FABER. 

Phallicism. — A  Description  of  the  Worship 
of  Lingam-Yoni  in  various  parts  of  the 
World,  with  an  account  of  ancient  and  mod- 


APPENDIX.  215 

ern  Crosses,  particularly  the  Crux  Ansata, 
and  other  Symbols  connected  with  the 
Mysteries  of  Sex  Worship. — ANON.  ;  privately 
printed. 

Phallicism. — Celestial  and  Terrestial,  Hea- 
then and  Christian  ;  its  connection  with  the 
Rosicrucians  and  the  Gnostics,  and  its 
foundation  in  Buddhism. — HARGRAVE  JEN- 
NINGS ;  privately  printed. 

Phallic  Objects,  Monuments  and  Remains 
— ANON.  ;  privately  printed. 

Phallic  Miscellanies, — Facts  and  Phases  of 
Ancient  and  Modern  Sex  Worship,  as  illus- 
trated chiefly  in  the  Religions  of  India. — 
ANON.  ;  privately  printed. 

Rivers  of  Life,  or  Sources  and  Streams  of 
the  Faiths  of  Man  in  all  lands. — J.  G.  R. 
FORLONG  ;  privately  printed. 

Secret  Museum  of  Naples  ;  being  an  ac- 
count of  the  erotic  Paintings,  Bronzes  and 
Statues  contained  in  that  famous  "Cabinet 
Secret." — COL.  FANIN  ;  privately  printed. 

Tree  and  Serpent  Worship,  or  Illustrations 
of  Mythology  and  Art  in  India,  in  the  ist 
and  4th  centuries  after  Christ. — JAMES  FER- 
GUSON ;  printed  for  the  India  Office,  London. 


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